Academic: Hydroponic Architecture

The populations of cities worldwide are increasing, fossil fuel consumption is growing, and the ability to sustainably feed our populations is dwindling. Susceptibility to changing weather extremes such as drought and flooding amplify the problems of production. If the current farm system is insufficient to sustainably produce food for our ever-growing cities, then a new model must be explored.

Cities make traditional farming difficult (if not impossible) to use as a productive, sustainable model. However, hydroponic farming (a soil-less farming method that instead uses concentrated nutrients in solution fed over the root system of a plant) has made great advancements in the last five decades, yet still remains on the fringes of food production. Hydroponic farming uses between 1/10th and 1/20th of the water consumption of "traditional" farming and is capable of producing food 365 days a year. Local production can eliminate not only the consumption of fuel, but also the cost and resources involved in transporting food across the country.

Based on these benefits, my thesis proposes the development of an architecture of hydroponic agriculture that can be brought successfully into the urban landscape.