Dynamic vertical networks | Hong Kong China | JAPA architects

 

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“Since Hong Kong has a predominant verticality and a lack of buildable space, it could be interesting to reinterpret this verticality and propose this new type of vertical farming on the city’s outskirts”  Javier F. Ponce, Dyv-net Architect

Since 2000, China’s cities have expanded at an average rate of 10% annually. Although China’s agricultural output is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated. China’s arable land, which represents 10% of the total arable land in the world, supports over 20% of the world’s population. Of this approximately 1.4 million square kilometers of arable land, only about 1.2% (116,580 square kilometers) permanently supports crops and 525,800 square kilometers are irrigated.The land is divided into approximately 200 million households, with an average land allocation of just 0.65 hectares (1.6 acres).

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China’s limited space for farming has been a problem throughout its history, leading to chronic food shortage. While the production efficiency of farmland has grown over time, efforts to expand to the west and the north have held limited success, as such land is generally colder and drier than traditional farmlands to the east. Since the 1950s, farm space has also been pressured by the increasing land needs of industry and cities

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Tai Po District, with an area of some 14,800 hectares in the northeast New Territories, is the second largest administrative district in Hong Kong.We chose this site because we believe it’s proximity to the high-rise developments of the Kowloon-Hong Kong area is a positive aspect to propose a low food mileage production infrastructure which can fed the city population (close to the urban centers).

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The proposal deals with the development of modern, efficient and environmentally acceptable farming structures in China ,where food consumption in relationship to food transportation distances is a crucial factor for a sustainable future.We foresee a paradigm shift to vertical agriculture structures which can be integrated into a territorial network along the country.

 

Inspired by the traditional China’s rice farming agriculture amazing shifting terraces and by the earlier agricultural hardware which consist basically of a tensile use of materials to produce lightweight and resistant structures, our proposal emphasizes the use of shifting floorplates and light structural systems which incorporates recycled metallic material.The 187.50 meters structures will attract locals & international visitors and become new places for education and agricultural research.

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Project features:

* Vertical structures which provide food,save land and at the same time act as a biodiversity magnet

* Paradigm shift: create more agricultural land by building upwards / No soil erosion, now Food will be grown hydroponically in a series of vertical process-connected structures

* Location Flexibility according to the closest city needs

*360 degree viewing platforms and new spaces research on farming techniques

* Close-by Industry: processing healthy food& create work places

*Opportunity to use towers to install laboratories and research hubs

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Dynamic vertical networks | Hong Kong China | JAPA architects

 

Awards:  Citation in the FuturArc Prize 2013, Singapore

 

 

About Damian Holmes 3245 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/

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