Outside the Vertical

Farm

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Contents

Introduction 6

Food Glorious Food 12

Vertical Farming in History 21

Public or Private Nature 27

Modernist vs. Socialist: Control and Utopia 34

Conclusion 40

Bibliograpfhy 42

6

Introduction

Vertical Farming is a proposed agricultural technique involving large-scale agriculture in urban high-rises or “farmscrapers”. Using recycled resources and greenhouse methods such as hydroponics; these buildings would produce fruit, vegetables, edible mushrooms and algae year-round.”1 It has been suggested that this is a potentially viable economic, environmental solution to ensure food security and combat food and land shortages. I am going to uncover the realities of this controversial design.

Urban dwellers are, typically, very detached from the origins of their food. Most people look to the supermarkets for all their nutrition, without considering where it has travelled from, who grew it and even what it is made out of. Some existing alternatives are already use- allotments and markets. These can also be very sociable places. Typically allotments will appeal to people who have a hectic city life because it helps to keep a mental balance, to do something creative and earthy when our lifestyle is so modern and hectic. If the government supported the idea, turning all unused land over to agriculture, like in Havana, Cuba, it would be a huge development in community strengthening. The National Trust are the largest private landowners and they are focusing on creating community gardens and new allotments now. Although these areas are not owned by the public, as a trust they have other motives besides profit. They would be areas where you could ‘do nothing’1, a rare thing in today’s city centres. It is, however, useful to evaluate the concept of Vertical Farming, a design popular among many architects, possibly uncovering if it could be an alternative to the farming supporting the existing networks of urban food, and if it would really be beneficial to the people.

1 The Joseph Rountree Foundation

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It is a relatively old concept that has been given visual renewal in modern day society, with the development of technology making the designs possible. Although the concept has been heavily documented over the last 100 years, built examples are scarce. It has been an ideal for a futuristic solution to modern day living, and also has advantages from a political viewpoint as it suggests the party in question is thinking towards a real future.

Throughout history and in the present, technology informs a certain style of design and encourages repetition due to the tools designed to make our lives faster and easier. This has had a particular influence on the designs proposed in Vertical Farming. Therefore this emerging typology within urban agriculture can be seen as an evolution of the traditional green house, revolutionary in style and technological in function. The addition of plants will invariably alter the affective experience, as our derived meaning of space alters with the addition of new elements. The designs and technicalities of these buildings have been extensively developed however; it appears that how the building itself affects its immediate surroundings has been completely over looked. The details of how the idea affects its surroundings are what I will uncover.

The social changes effect a wide range of people right down to the current production level; the local farming communities, as goods get produced via mass production elsewhere and the connection between food and mouth is further widened. To get the most accurate, current public opinion my investigations feature many online sources, as they are proving very useful in terms of grasping the public reaction through blogs, journals and articles.

One of vertical farms main advantages is reducing food miles and strengthening communities. However this

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depends on its execution, as land everywhere is being sold to the highest bidder with economical gain as the central aim, Vertical Farming has several large obstacles in its way. However the current system focuses on capitalist views: profit prioritising not people prioritising.2 Karl Marx was a key advocator of socialism and believed that commodities, i.e the need for food shouldn’t rule the way we live and work. Vertical farms would be mass-producing food, which goes against socialist views, but by not putting profit first and working with volunteers and people within the community they would change the experience of the vertical farm for employees, visitors and clients. Having your food grown locally would stop excessive fuel use, food miles and mass control over what we eat. Local vertical farms would respond to the communities’ requests – especially if their intentions we’re not just profit maximisation. Without change in profit making obsession the vertical farm would end up not fulfilling its potential as a social and community-binding tool. Without community input it is just another part of our life that can be controlled. However it is difficult to determine if it is feasible to build something that would initially be very expensive to build for community use. Who cares enough to invest in something so big without returns? The types of communities that need, and would appreciate this type of architecture are not typically well off.

The Vertical Farm could be a public space; a park, or include parks to ‘do nothing’. This new place type has the potential to change the city. It could connect the different groups of people and break down social barriers that cause the social problems this county is experiencing.

2 The economics of Happiness, a documentary by Helena Norberg-

Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page. And the oil depletion protocol:

http://www.oildepletionprotocol.org/

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Economic implications are advantageous but bring with them complications such as high-energy usage and set up costs so this might not be a good reason to invest. To entice developers vertical farms would need to make food cheaper to grow and so cheaper to sell which would interest further customers. To buy direct from the public vertical farm would cut out the supermarket and keep selling prices low. With enough support his would initiate a rethink for supermarkets about the way they sell food.

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The UK is a very small, densely populated country with 77% of its land already being used for food production.3

People are richer and are eating more than ever According to a report in The Independent, population in the UK is set to rise to 77 billion by 2050, which would be more than any other country in Europe.4 If we found a way to produce food in the cities this would reduce pressure on rural Britain and the damage done could be, at least in part, repaired. Can an increase in density go with an increase in quality of life?

Around the Millennium the supply and demand balance shifted. In 2007 a series of bad crops and an increasing demand led the price of food to double. The more food we produce for our selves the more secure our food supply would be.5 Dependency on the weather, temperatures and other ‘acts of God’ are also a risk to food security. Having a controllable environment ensures a predictable result. The vertical farm does insure this.

With the inevitable decline in fossil fuel availability6

3 Land Use Policy, Agriculture and land use: Demand for and supply of agricultural commodities, characteristics of the farming and food industries, and implications for land use in the UK. By A. Angus, PJ

Burgess, J. Morris and J Linard. Can be found at: http://www.bis.gov.uk/

assets/bispartners/foresight/docs/land-use/jlup/27_agriculture_and_

land_use_-_demand_for_and_supply_of_agricultural_commodities.pdf 4 The Idependant Newspaper, online. An article by Wesley Johnson. ‘UK population ‘largest in western Europe by 2050. Published on 30/07/11. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-population-largest-in-western-europe-by-2050-2039395.html , Their information sourced from US-based Population Reference Bureau.

5 An article on the UK Agriculture charity. ‘The importance of

agriculture to the UK.’ http://www.ukagriculture.com/the_importance_

of_agriculture.cfm

6 The peak oil crisis. Huberrts theory. https://tulip.plymouth.ac.uk/

Module/DSGN236/SharedDocuments/Materiality%20and%20Evolution/

Transition%20Town%20Movement.pdf and we are already seeing

the effects of less oil; constantly rising fuel prices, the goverenment

Food Glorious Food

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and the increasing demand, the unnecessary (and sometimes ridiculous) transportation of food will become economically impossible.7 Localisation of food production is a practical solution for rural areas and could be relatively easy to adapt. This is happening in many towns globally already,8 such as transition towns like Totness in Devon, who describe themselves as ‘a dynamic, community-led charity that is strengthening the local economy, reducing the cost of living and preparing for a future with less oil and a changing climate.’9 The city however would be far more difficult to adapt.10 Cities, described as parasites by Dr. Dickinson Despommier, ‘uses up everything and discards everything it doesn’t need’.11 To feed cities in the future we need an alternative to relying on food transported being in. How would cities feed themselves in a future without an abundance of fossil fuels? Some cities have adopted forms of urban agriculture already. Havana in Cuba, after a fuel crisis, took matters into their own hands and now 90% of the cities fresh produce is grown in the city.12 Cultivating food in the city is not a new idea.13

propose 3p in January and 5p in August (The Daily Mail http://

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2061337/Petrol-prices-

Government-s-share-petrol-pump-price-DROPS-average-household-

spends-677-fuel-duty.html and The Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/

news/politics/2011/11/16/tory-mps-vote-against-george-osborne-s-3p-

new-year-petrol-duty-rise-115875-23564591/)

7 The Economics of Happiness, a documentary by Helena Norberg-

Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page. 2001 And the oil depletion

protocol: http://www.oildepletionprotocol.org/

8 Econmics of happiness (same as above)

9 http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/

10 Highier land costs, a lack of land; especially land to farm. More

difficult to get people to change their way of life.

11 The article, Vertical Farming: Does it really stack up? Printed in the

Economist 9/12/09 http://www.economist.com/node/17647627

12 http://www.cubaagriculture.com/agriculture-today.htm

13 An article by Elisabeth Schwiontek: Urban Agriculture: the happiness Elisabeth Schwiontek: Urban Agriculture: the happiness : Urban Agriculture: the happiness

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What other avant-garde idea has been documented and designed so thoroughly and never properly been realised? A change is required in the general public’s view of farming being connected to the land, the soil and the countryside in order to except Vertical Farming. The current situation creates a state of not knowing where the food comes from and the connection of field to mouth is lost. It is a romantic but unrealistic view of what intensive farming is like, even if it is in the countryside.

Grow your own vs. Supermarkets

The last time gardening was fashionable and popular was during the world wars. Food produce was grown in rural areas, urban rooftops, and vacant lots - even in parks. It became stylish to garden – supporting your troops and feeding your family. Growers reialised the benefits of ‘growing your own.’ However with the next generation this seems to be lost. Surely it doesn’t take a war to make people ensure food security for themselves. The government heavily incouraged people, where as now

of harvesting in the city. http://www.goethe.de/kue/arc/pan/en6433712.

htm

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it is left to local organisations.14 The following posters were used to spread the word about growing food.

At every visit to the supermarket, in reality or online, there is a bombarment of aparent sales and savings. It is easy to get drawn in to these ‘deals’. They all advertise you are saving and its so cheap. These posters only represent a fragment of truth. Ofton the ‘savings’ are made because the supermarkets temperarily raise the price for a short period then when they bring them back down it’s a ‘saving’.15 We never hear an alternative so it is easy to become acustumed to these problems and, hence, we end up beliving that is intrinsic to survival to shop at a supermarket and people are reluctant to take responsibility for themselves. Psychologically it is so easy to become reliant on companies to provide for us. They take advantage of the

14 Cultivating a city, Agrarian Detroit by Kurt Schleicher. http://www-

personal.umich.edu/~kuschlei/04_TheNormal_Section_kuschlei.pdf

15 BBC Watchdog Blog site. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/

watchdog/2011/04/supermarket_pricing.html

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convenience factor.

Wal-Mart, MacDonald’s, Pepsi, Costco (there just some of the food related giants) are now more powerful than whole countries. The book ‘The Naked Ape to superspecies: humanity and the global eco-crisis compares their power to be like that of the Church in medieval or the Renaissance. ‘They have infiltrated their members into the highest echelons of government so they are more responsive to them than the citizens they govern.16

The divide between the food industry and agriculture has been blurred. The industrialisation of agriculture has meant that activities within farming have become more detached from their natural resource. For example artificial fertilizers have replaced manure. This has also happened in the food processing industry; non-agricultural, man-made additives are replacing natural products. 17 Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on the food industry. Convenience undervalues fresh food.18

What is essential to whatever we do is to move away from the use of supermarkets. The dependency, the desperation and the mind numbing way that these very large companies control almost everything about us has to stop. ‘You are what you eat’ - the supermarkets control what you eat. Since completing a simple but shocking exercise of trying to source where the food in my

16 The Naked Ape to Superspecies: Humanity ad the global eco crisis

by By David T. Suzuki, Holly Dressel, Holly Jewell Dressel, David Suzuki

Foundation Greystone/David Suzuki Fdtn, 2004 page 250

17 Goodman and Redclift (1991: 90-91) Food, people and society: a

European perspective of consumers’ food choices, Lynn Frewer, Einar

Risvik, Hendrik Schifferstein Germany 2001. Page 328

18 Food people and society, 2001Page 328

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cupboards comes from and discovering that the majority stated ‘from various sources’ alarmed me. Then searching the brands websites, reading reports and articles I found the answers it was very challenging to find. To suggest that I just want to know where the wheat in bread comes from is not outrageous. It seems obvious to me that we would want to know where our food came from but no-one seems to care. I turned out that everything but the meat, which I consciously made sure was British, was sources from, often thousands of miles away. Not just Europe either, which on in the comparative scheme of things would have been acceptable, but all but two where from places were from outside Europe. 19

These results made me think about what I wanted to support and I now only shop locally at the market. At first it was to lower food miles of my meals and support local economy but there are other benefits that I did not expect. I used to spend £30 a week on food and it would take me about an hour and a half. I now spend as little as £12 a week and it takes me 20 minutes. I feel healthier and I eat a much wider variety of food. If that is not interesting enough the experience is pleasant and interaction is ten times as much if I went to the supermarket. People are polite, friendly and helpful. The differences are much clearer if I need to go into a supermarket now. People are rude, the staff are miserable, the lighting is horrible, you are bombarded with offers for things you don’t want and if that isn’t enough it costs three times as much!

The reactions I receive from people that don’t go to the market show that it really is something you have to experience to understand, to get the bug for. You have to be willing to try it to understand how good it is. Students are always complaining of no money and eating badly. Even when I explain to people how much I

19 A extract of author research.

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save and the variety of food I eat the reaction is always, from students and others I have asked, the ‘convenience’ of the supermarket, its long opening hours, you can drive there and park outside. Is this trade off really worth it? It is something that most of us have grown up with, I knew nothing else until radically changing my shopping habits. Using the supermarket simply is a habit, something we do without even thinking about it. The pro’s of going to the market need to be advertised and encouraged by people of influence; teachers, social workers, police,

vii, viii

Ingredient Food Brand Sourced

from

Alternative Distance

(miles)

Wheat Bread Warbur-

ton’s

Canada Liskard breadNewquay wheat

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50

Bran Branflakes Kelloggs Mexico,

Spain,

Canada

Falmouthw 67

Tomatoes Tomatoe

soup

Heinz Portugal Saltash 6.5

Chicken Chicken Asda Cambridge

then Leeds

Totnes 23

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the government, the local council. However as I have discovered if people don’t want to change they won’t listen and so while the convenience exists so will the problems associated with it.

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This section is to establish the context to which Vertical Farming arose. I have located all the known examples until the late 80’s – when Vertical Farming designed boomed and there are an abundance of designs. I have briefly discussed Mitchell Taylors secret garden because it is relevant to urban agriculture development.

Vertical Farming was first illustrated in the form of cultivating food within skyscrapers in Life magazine in 1909. It was called the Ideal skyscraper scheme and gave the possibility of multiplication of many aerial plots with changeable uses, ‘the instrument

Vertical Farming In History

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of a new form of unknown urbanism’, ‘it promises perpetual programmatic instability’.20 In Rem Koolhaus’ book Delirious New York he talks, of the 1909 illustration in a Modernistic aproach, ‘The Skyscraper as Utopian device for the production of unlimited numbers of virgin sites on a metropolitan location’ (1994, 82). This shows the way high rise housing was imagined in an era where skyscrapers didn’t exist, so how they would design and build the concept with no limitations. It also indicates every family would be separate in their food production, not as a community. It does not consider that residents would have no access to outdoor space, like many skyscrapers today. It is also seen to be within the home only, rather than an industrial scale. This is one of the main differences between the vertical farms I have chosen to discuss – ownership. The illustrator imagined a high-density city where everybody had enough land to grow their own food and provide for their selves. They would be very isolated plots because they would not be able to see their neighbours above or below. Even if there were a series of the Ideal skyscrapers they wouldn’t have any ‘next door neighbours’ as we think of them now. This would create a less sociable environment. Therefore every family would be very self-contained, socially and in terms of food production. The idea is similar to allotments, in the sense that everybody has their own strip but allotments can be very sociable.

In the modern day the concept of having plots stacked did not materialise in this particular way. The plots would have become windier the higher they were and the gardens would have had to be safely secure. Most city houses do not have enough land to

20 Rem Koolhaus, Delerious New York, (Routledge: Oxford 2008)

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feed the family.

The Bengal system 1951 by Sholto Douglas talks about the first Tower Hydroponic Units in Armenia. This is hardly documented and does not exist today. SITE high rise housing was designed in 1972 with Community living on each floor. It was mixed use, residential and commercial with individual gardens for each apartment with clusters of village like communities on each floor.21 The image looks as

21 SITE Architects, New York http://www.siteenvirodesign.com/

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though it was painted, creating a romantic feel. The colours are vibrant and it has no buildings surrounding it. They are selling a feeling, an idea, rather than the actual building itself. Nature particularly appeals to city dwellers as it fills the gap in what we are currently lacking in the way we live.

This building would create a community within its residents but not the surrounding area. Only residents would explore the building. This is my favourite of all the proposals discussed. It looks the least controlled, with its open sides and greenery growing out over the boundary of each floor. It also appears welcoming with no imposing glass and steel. It seems like simple allotments stacked on top of each other. The floor area is split into two on each level, where it makes sense to have your shelter, a shed ex.hoh.php xi

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to store materials in the centre of the building. The building is shallow and long which is most practical for light.

Ken Yeang designs ‘Bioclimatic Architecture’, one of the only architects to have realised his vertical farm concepts. He implemented ideas of transitional spaces, sky courts, vertical landscaping, natural ventilation and energy saving climate controls.22 Plants could have replaced some of the sun protection screens. However the IBM building (1989) is primarily offices with ‘sky courts’ for planting on the exterior.23 Once built these ‘sky courts’ haven’t been used as they were intended.24 Ken Yeang designs vertical vegetation that grows on or around buildings that have other uses. This is suggested by some to be the best way to start building vertical farms.25

Mitchell Taylor’s secret garden (page 26) is the most recent of the proposals. It took inspiration from the

22 http://www.yangsquare.com/menara-mesiniaga-in-detail/

23 T. R Hanzah & Yeang Architects, Malaysia http://www.

trhamzahyeang.com/project/skyscrapers/mesiniaga01.html

24Architecture City Environment, Koen Steemers and Simos

Yannas, James & James London 2000

25 http://www.eatingrealfood.com/articles/do-we-need-to-build-

vertical-farming-skyscrapers/

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well-known child’s story The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This new and temporary use for the ‘cheesgrater’ site in London is one of the may un-built urban farming ideas. This one, in particular was labelled a ‘missed opportunity’ by a blogger in the Architect Journal.26 It would encourage teamwork and community, rather than a private effort. Working as a team would strengthen the community and ensure everyone had access to fresh, local fruit and vegetables. This is recreation space and food production space. Visitors would be people who work or live in the area. Instead of sitting in a staff room or a fast food restaurant visitors could enjoy a useful green space.

This idea for temporary sites would work on empty sites in urban areas anywhere. If volunteers were used for building the cost of £125,000 could be reduced.

26 Achitect Journal blog website. ‘PopUp city: a missed opportunity.’

25/3/11 http://blog.emap.com/footprint/2010/03/25/popup-city-a-

missed-opportunity/

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Public or Private Nature

Ground Control’ by Anna Minton explains the hidden aspects of politics and policymaking. She talks about how privatisation of once public spaces increase control on the public and gives the owner the option to exclude whoever they like; homeless people, young people, skateboarders and photographers. Vertical farms shouldn’t support this. Some of the suggested designs fit perfectly into the stereotypical image of capitalist architecture. Laden with steel and glass, detached from its surroundings Vertical Farms could quite easily become the food growing shopping malls. However the most interesting and important points of vertical farms is that they are to feed and involve the community. However as Minton explains capitalist architecture doesn’t welcome the existing community but visitors with money. Liverpool One, Cardinal Place London or Drake Circus in Plymouth and all city centre developments seem to deliberately want to detach the design from their cultural surroundings. Canary Warf in London was once part of the disused docklands and is now a financial centre for London. The residents around Canary Warf and Liverpool One feel as though they ‘don’t relate to it’ and it is ‘nothing to do with (them)’27. This is precisely the effect the vertical farm should not have. So how would a vertical farm be created that was welcoming to everyone? Firstly I would suggest no bars, gates and CCTV. There is no evidence that CCTV lowers crime. Only increases complaints to the police.28 Also creating an area were you feel you are constantly being watched is not welcoming. It could become a connection point for locals to commuters in an area of land bridging both.Who would own the vertical farm? Before reading Anna Minton’s book I would have

27 Ground Control By Anna Minton Published by The Penguin Group

London 2009 page 35

28 Psychology and Crime By Kevin Brewer Published Heinemann

Edinburgh Gate, Essex 2000

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suggested that developers should own and run vertical farms. However realising their number one concern being profit and the extremes they go to get it, I am now unsure that developers should own and control anything. However consumers flock to these places enjoying the cleanliness and lack of people ‘doing nothing’. Our public sector is weak29 and needs to take back more control. Urban Farming would be a good place to start. If it was a Vertical Farm, councils could build much needed housing with food growing areas integrated into the floor plans. Local people could work on these community projects with a range of skills and ages. Not scientists or people that are alien to the community. Making it part of the community, not an unfamiliar insertion, would be paramount to its success. This could also help the poorest people of England to regain some community spirit, often unretained from regularly moving house, forced or not. The council would build and maintain the structure of the Vertical Farm and the community would look after the production side. They could sell their produce to the surrounding areas and reinvest the money in their growing schemes. Because of the lack of security guards people would have to revert to public responsibility. This method has worked in road safety schemes where all signs and barriers were taken away and so people are more alert and aware of their surroundings. I noticed this in Amsterdam when I visited in 2011. There where tramlines, cycle paths, large pavement areas for pedestrians and small roads for cars all ran along side each other with no barriers or signs. There are places in England that these methods of giving control back have cut accidents by 90%30. If trust and responsibility can

29 Ground Control By Anna Minton Published by The Penguin Group

London 2009 page 197

30 Ground Control By Anna Minton Published by The Penguin Group

London 2009 page 182

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be given back and is successful in this way then it could work in other aspects of our lives- feeding ourselves.

A private Vertical farm would be owned by a developer. Access would be limited and the goods produced would be sold to the highest bidder. The products would be transported to distribution centres and then transported to supermarkets. This defeats most of the good points of Vertical Farming; still high food miles, still intensely farmed and no inclusion of the community. This type of vertical farm only increases the power that developers have over us. At least the existing way of doing things is somewhat controlled by nature and the farmer.

SOA Architects (France) have designed ‘Living tower’ (see below) which would have 15 floors of residential, 15 floors of offices, a 7000m2 shopping centre, a library and a nursery in addition to the gardens distributed thought out the building. This is a typical example of Capitalist Masculine Architecture. It is unwelcoming, intimidating,

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and verging on scary. If community was at the heart of this project it is not conveyed in the render.

Vertical farm schemes have rocketed since the development of computer aided design. Digital representation opens a whole new type of design possibilities. The computer can draw anything and with detailed software and calculations possible the ceilings are lifted. People use technology as a form of creating dream worlds and escapism because they are in a situation of unease at the present time. The dream worlds appeal because we pin associations upon it. Vertical farm designs are natural yet modern, it appears that we would have a better mental balance. Calculated idea are not accurate and do not translate into real life this causes problems with the end result as it may not be as they expected.

The internet has opened the design up to the world with over 15 million hits on google, it is easily assessable to anyone.

The simple concept of community Vertical Farms is to link people of the city to nature. Quality of life is linked to interaction with nature, outside of high-density areas. Nature could take on a new role within the city, now that parks are becoming redundant to shopping centres, leisure centres, theme parks and roads? Create a new type of park - a vertical park31 and could be a functional area for food production.

MVRDV explains:

“What role will nature, in the widest sense, play in such an increase in density? Is not the issue here new nature, literally and metaphorically?...

31 Far Max Excursions on Density, MVRDV 010 Publishers

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“…a mix of technology and nature, emphasizing nature’s make-ability and artificiality: technology and nature need not be mutually exclusive, they can perfectly well reinforce one another.’…

Nature arranged on many levels provides both an extension to existing nature and an outstanding symbol of its artificiality. It provides multi-level public space as an extension to existing public spaces.

…The building becomes a monumental multi-level park. It takes on the character of a happening.”32

The extension of nature in such an artificial statement would attract the public, although no more artificial than giant intensive farms and the western idea of public space- the park, could create scepticism. The contrast between something that is clearly artificial and the so natural creates an evocative design. They look beautifully clean and controled as design renders, this would encourage supporters. A ‘happening’ would create another space within a vertical farm. Escalating its status in society? In the same way allotments have – some waiting lists reaching 10 years in London.33

If images are separated from the values that virtual farming is meant to contain, they could be situated anywhere, non-site specific, highly globalized, futuristic, speaks of technocracy, mass communications (and therefore not solitude or private). The actual idea of Vertical Farming in a moralistic sense is different – its talking about communities, equalism, having a sense of

32 MRVDV Architects, The Netherlands http://www.mvrdv.nl/#/projects

33 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4776325.stm

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ethic about where our food comes from. Therefore the image does not represent the realities of the concept. If it did would it still be appealing? Would it be so neat and clean and appeal to our senses in the same way. Although the idea is natural the designs don’t look remotely natural.

Vertical Farm proposals have a futuristic, utopian approach similar to Modernist ideals. The Modernist’s democracy and socialist views were intended to change the way people lived for the better. But their alterations didn’t necessarily evoke a social change that people at the time were looking for. Would this be the case with Vertical Farming? If not why? Are people really looking for a change in ideals and lifestyle? Commercial Vertical Farming would still ensure people went to the shops for their food and so wouldn’t necessarily change their views about being ‘eco.’

The idea and form are a contradiction. The form is Capitalist inspired with the Modernist idea of creating a utopia, which is formal, clean and controlled. It would be supported by Marxist theory in that sense. However he strongest idea is of helping the community work together and feed each other, without outside interference, which is a socialist ideal. Michael Foucault derived the term governmentality and ‘biopower’ to describe ‘the conduct of conduct’ which is similar to the themes explored in Anna Mintons book. Not just for how the governments mould the citizens to be a perfect voter but how we self govern ourselves.34 The Vertical farm appears in both ideals, which could be the reason it has so far failed to become a common reality. Does it not grip either because it could be either? Flexible in its theory it is not physically. A garden grows out or up or down but a Vertical Farm is very fixed in its boundaries. Are all

34 Michel Foucault: Security,Territory,Population p.1 (2007) Michel Foucault: Security,Territory,Population p.1 (2007)

Modernist vs.Socialist? Control andUtopia

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these conflicts of realities, practicalities, politics and ideals contributing to its inability to find a place in our society?

The current planning system is creating zones; intentionally or not, compartmentalising is something this country is very used to. Integrating the different zones would create more communities and less food miles. It would also create a range of ability jobs. Preventing boundaries, physical and social would help people take responsibility for their lives. People need to be given more responsibility or take more responsibility for their decisions about where they source their food from. However if we stopped relying on the world market for food this would go against plans for globalisation and the government would not support this. Governments give financial help to corporate businesses.35 This is their way of supporting and encouraging globalisation. For example, this is why slate from Brazil is a tenth of the price as slate from five miles up the road.

…”Trade is a ‘feeble and regressive means of distributing wealth among nations”36 …

Globalisation is causing a growing gap between rich and poor, which is causing problems in the wider society.37 This is why getting the government to change will be the most challenging because it is making a lot of powerful people rich.38

Would giving the people control really work? Cuba is the only country in the world to have developed, extensive state supported infrastructure to support urban food

35 http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1856370

36 Globalization Key thinkers by Andrew Jones

37 Globalization Key thinkers by Andrew Jones

38 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp7vsTW9FTQ

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production and growers.39 It happened because of food shortages in the 1990’s. Residents of Havana- a typical consumer city with no food production of its own, started to spontaneously grow their own food. This is like the Nations effort in the world wars, a crisis arises which brings people together to solve the problem. Cuba’s government set up a Urban Agriculture department to support growers and secured laws that meant that any disused land could be taken over for agriculture. With the government support the people are feeding themselves.

Another place where urban farming is taking off is Detroit, USA. The traditional plans for garden cities don’t relate to existing cities, such as Ebenezer Howards Garden City, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Mass Studies Seoul Commune. They assume the city is built from scratch, not working with what is already there.40 These plans could be implemented in dying cities such as Detroit. This would give them a new direction. For a city that was once an industrial centre it could now be a food production city. The communities are there. It would start small scale and expand as people moved in. Old buildings could be reused or demolished. A blog on ecoGeek explains that building farms on the ‘most expensive land on the planet’ would never make sense. This land however is selling for as low as $50. Nature is already taking over plots that are disused there (see image), creating food gardens seems an obvious progression.

London has nearly 12 square miles of previously developed land, derelict or disused. 1/3 of this land is publicly owned. 43% of London’s Brownfield’s is in deprived areas. Over 35% of the land has remained unchanged since 1998. 70% of England’s Brownfield’s

39 http://bss.sfsu.edu/raquelrp/pub/2000_aug_pub.html

40 http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kuschlei/04_TheNormal_Section_ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kuschlei/04_TheNormal_Section_

kuschlei.pdf

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have no planned use.41 4.2 square miles of land has been derelict for 13 years or more and has no planned use. These types of sites are common in cities all over the country and would be perfect for urban farming. If these sites had been in Cuba they would be used for farming by law. These sites are a waist and should be offered to the community to farm. Urban farming would help deprived areas to regenerate a sense of community. There are already a number of ‘city farms’42 in London intended for young people to visit and learn which shows the market is there.The evolution of technology has created this typology. Without technology we wouldn’t need a building type such as this. Vertical Farming is a possibility for the future.

Representation through imagery and reports has demanded attention, with impressive form and relaxed

41 http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/environment/lda-

brownfields-review.pdf

42http://www.london.gov.uk/young-london/teens/things-to-do/farm.jsp

xvii

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39

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colours. The subconscious draws us to nature, for a dream of a better place. The greenery is calming and creates a sense of mystery, like a jungle or forest. Deprived of this, city dwellers would be drawn to these designs. Is it human’s pull to nature that will give this design a chance? City dwellers would be able to get ‘their fix’ of nature around the corner. It could become an escape from their stressful lives. But couldn’t this be found in allotments or installations for a fraction of the price?

The Internet has generated a massive following for this type of architecture. It has opened it up to a much wider audience. The inbuilt designs have helped to spread awareness of urban agriculture. With interest in living healthier and fuel prices growing it is only a matter of time before our cities start looking greener. However if Vertical Farming catches onto developers and policies there is a danger it will become another extreme monument of control. If the concept is abused it will further weaken the control we have over our own lives. It needs to be something the profit hungry developers are not interested in, deliberately. If trusts and communities can market it as a non profitable place for community it could be a positive addition to our cities. To bridge the gap between rich and poor and production and growth.

My experience of Vertical Farming started with an interest into why the concept has not taken off. I was subconsciously dazzled by the imagery and positive green thinking associated with it. Dr. Dickinson Despommier’s (the most recent public supporter of Vertical Farming,) inspirational and motivational advertisement of a subject, he sells well. The main concern is that it is just another product waiting to be snatched up. Despommier could be seen as selling a capitalist idea for developers to cut out the ‘middle man’ (the farmer). As well as a whole

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host of social problems there are practicality issues as well, the main problem being the lack of light to the plants inside the building that are not up against the windows. Using artificial light is, at present, is to expensive to make Vertical Farming commercially viable. ‘To work (Vertical Farming) would need to use cheep, renewable energy.’ Dr. Caplow suggests that Vertical Farming should be integrated onto existing buildings, which would provide a passive form of climate control. 43 This would be a cheaper and lower impact form of urban farming adaptation. If the price of fuel increases to the point where high food miles are impossible, a local solution will have to be found. Even if the basic problem of light is solved the negative social implications of a vertical farm far outweigh the positive.

As a whole, individuals, governments and other organisations all need to integrate several changes into their ideas. I think the answer is to use several methods of feeding cities together, centralised around the community and their opinions. Everyone needs to be educated in the problems that are being ‘swept under the carpet’ by officials and feel inspired to do something about it. People in power also need to take responsibility because they understand further what they are doing. We could well be forced into urban farming, like Havana in Cuba, but it wouldn’t necessarily a bad thing and maybe it what this country needs to remind it what is important.

w

43 The article, Vertical Farming: Does it really stack up? Printed in the

Economist 9/12/09 http://www.economist.com/node/17647627

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Imagesi Front Cover, made by Author ii Page 2-3 Rolling countryside, taken by Authoriii Page 10-11 Auberguines, taken by Authoriv The Economics of Happiness, a documentary by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page. And the oil depletion protocol: http://www.oildepletionprotocol.org/v http://www.knowthis.com/blog/postings/the-changing-landscape-of-beverage-distribution/vi http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lro5qrye661qcblkao1_500.jpgvii www.asda.comviii www.sainsburys.co.ukix Image: Rem Koolhaus, Delerious New Yorkx http://ps-survival.com/PS/Hydroponics/Hydroponics_The_Bengal_System_1959.pdfxi http://www.siteenvirodesign.com/ex.hoh.php xii http://www.yangsquare.com/menara-mesiniaga-in-detail/xiii http://www.mitchelltaylorworkshop.co.uk/projects.asp?id=42&ind=1xiv Page 26- 27 Barbed wire, taken by Authorxv http://rathausartprojects.com/blog/2008/11/06/living-tower-soa-architects/xvi Page 36-37 Havana, Cuba. Urban Agriculture www.flickr.comxvii http://boingboing.net/2009/09/01/detroit-houses-being.htmlxviii http://www.lda.gov.uk/projects/london-brownfield-sites-review/index.aspx

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R. Tavernor. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1988. (first presented in Italy to Pope Nicholas in 1450, first published 1486)

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population ‘largest in western Europe by 2050. Published on 30/07/11. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-population-largest-in-western-europe-by-2050-2039395.html, Their information sourced from US-based Population Reference Bureau.

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The Economics of Happiness, a documentary by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page. And the oil depletion protocol: http://www.oildepletionprotocol.org/

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to the UK.’ http://www.ukagriculture.com/the_importance_of_agriculture.cfm

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City farm vernacularhttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=trwOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA201&dq=city+farming&hl=en&ei=09DIToufOonB8QObnLB7&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=city%20farming&f=false

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