Skyscraper farming appears to be becoming the latest green craze. The concept is not a new one however more architecture firms are turning to skyscraper farming and churning out new concepts.

There are plenty of variations on the theme, most of which revolve around vertical farming. This is, essentially, a larger scale vertical garden with plants growing on the outsides of buildings. Not only does this help with retain heat in the building in winter and help keep the building cool in summer, the vertical farm can also help produce food to feed the people in the building. The plants will also catch some rainfall thus helping to reduce the risk of flash floods.

One of the latest ideas is the Dragonfly building, a concept from Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. His Dragonfly is 100 percent self sufficient thanks to a combination of solar and wind power. Spanning 132 floors and 600 metres high, the Dragonfly incorporates up to 28 different agricultural fields for the production of various crops including meat, dairy, fruit, grains and vegetables. Offices and residential area share the space and the rooms can be found between the agricultural area. Plant and animal farming is spaced in a specific manner so soil nutrient levels are maintained and biowaste can be reused.

With an increasing number of people trying to reduce the number of miles that their food travels before they buy it, we would not be surprised to see some of these urban farm units spring up in a major city before too long.

Popularity: 6% [?]