Architecture

The Dragonfly: vertical farming vision for New York's skyline

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The vertical farm concept will be located on New York City's Rossevelt Island
The vertical farm concept will be located on New York City's Rossevelt Island
The sheer size of the project is highlighted by the surrounding buildings
Eye-catching views of the New York skyline are sure to be a big draw for tourists
The Dragonfly will include living quarters and residential space on each level
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Building another skyscraper in the middle of New York may not seem like the most environmentally friendly thing to do. That is of course, unless said skyscraper is capable of providing a sprawling urban populous with food, the reuse of natural resources and biodegradeable waste.

The Dragonfly is the brainchild of Belgian company Vincent Callebaut Architectures and underlines the future potential of vertical farming that was first realized by designs such as Dubai’s seawater vertical farm and Eric Vergne's Dystopian Farm concept.

The unique approach taken by Callebaut begins with the design, which mimics the wings of a dragonfly both for aesthetic merit and to facilitate the use of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and tide-turbine power. In addition, the space between the pair of "wings" would use solar energy production to accumulate warm air within the structure during winter months, and the design of the spine would efficiently separate and recirculate waste products from plants, humans beings and animals.

A 600 meter high vertical complex would contain 132 floors accommodating 28 different agricultural fields, including housing, office space and laboratories as well as orchards, farms and production rooms.

The importance of research into this area is highlighted by the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) who argues that by 2025, worldwide urban population have risen from 3.1 billion to 5.5 billion. The ability of an ecological city to be self-sustainable and to reduce waste and pollution by reuse of natural resources and biodegradable waste would therefore be an essential part of a stable, ecological future.

Research by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) in the US suggests that organic agriculture could eventually provide enough food to nourish the planet if developed on a large scale, and though any such project would require substantial initial investment, the long-term effect would seem to far outweigh the short-term cost.

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4 comments
gormanwvzb
This is a great story. I read a lot about this several months ago http://cleanerairforcities.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-yorks-dragonfly-concept.html
As populations grow, we will have to consider to new, and alternative ways of agriculture. There seem to be real benefits of urban agriculture/skyfarms. It is all pretty cool.
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froginapot
I wish there was some way of asking the authors of these articles to always determine what it will cost to do these ideas. What difference does it make if a pound of cabbage grown in the Dragonfly costs $10-30 a head? What percentage of people can afford $10-30 a head? So just as a reality check please authors, find out how much it costs! Imagine it costs $300 a square foot to build the Dragonfly. I don't know the answer. But that is almost $13 MILLION DOLLARS FOR ONE ACRE OF GROW SPACE! If I'm missing something, please explain it.
Eddie Sarphie
Excellent! Here's an expensive, probably heavily subsidized solution to the problem of replacing the overabundant, overproducing, heavily subsidized farming industry in the U.S.
On the plus side, if New York City could become completely self-sufficient, we could wall it off and start casting for the real Snake Pliskin.