A dragonfly inspired vertical farm for New York

Posted by m1k3y on July 12th, 2009 in cities, gardening, urban

From archiCentral:

Belgian firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures have designed a vertical farm based on the wings of a dragonfly. Located along the East River at the south edge of Rooselvelt Island in New York City the tower is a true living organism being self-sufficient in water, energy and bio fertilizing. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the dragonfly can accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy.

thanks to cnawan for the tip-off!

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7 Responses to “A dragonfly inspired vertical farm for New York”

  1. Jennifer Mitchell - July 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am

    This is a great concept, but why New York? How much would they have to charge for a head of lettuce to make ends meet? I’ve got to ask my farmer cousin to weigh in, but as a designer, it sure looks great.

  2. KBlack - July 12th, 2009 at 1:21 pm

    a) Architects often design useless but flashy stuff just to get publicity.
    b) Rich people from big cities are their target market, so New York is a good place to put it.

    I bet no one in Vincent Callebaut Architectures cares about this being built, it’s just a marketing stunt. “Look at us, we’re so environment-friendly.”

  3. Ush - July 12th, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    Why even build a new structure? Every time I pass by a particular parking garage in town, I can’t help but wonder how much more usefull it would be as a multi-level greenhouse/allotment cooperative. What would it take to convert just the roof-level of every parking structure in a medium-sized city to community-tended gardens?

    … I’m going to bed…

  4. Dr. Curiosity - July 13th, 2009 at 2:20 am

    Cnawan seems to be a link to the JPEG directly above? That’s not what I remember cnawan looking like. (There were definitely bright orange pants, for starters…)

  5. m1k3y - July 13th, 2009 at 2:52 am

    whoops..

  6. Seej 500 - July 15th, 2009 at 4:35 am

    I wonder what the wind-shear response of such a structure would be. I mean, a dragonfly wing is _evolved_ specifically to interrupt airflow. They’d have to make this thing ridiculously strong.

    That said, vertical gardening does seem like a smart solution. I suspect that mixed-use structures would be more practical in the first instance, with the vegetation hung on the outside and housing/offices/etc occupying some of the internal space.

  7. KBlack - July 15th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    Seej: What about using piezoelectric materials to transform this huge wind resistance into electricity? Might not be feasible yet, and still doesn’t solve the shear stress problem, but anyway…

    This thing reminds me more of a butterfly than a dragonfly…

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