City Agriculture - December 13, 2017

Plenty - a start-up that plans vertical farms outside of every city over 1 million population, 500 in all
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/11/8/16611710/vertical-farms
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-09-06/this-high-tech-vertical-farm-promises-whole-foods-quality-at-walmart-prices

Smart living wall for purifying indoor air
https://www.naava.io/green-walls
https://inhabitat.com/smart-living-wall-monitored-by-artificial-intelligence-purifies-indoor-air/

Sky forest planned for Ho Chi Minh City
http://www.cnn.com/style/article/ole-scheeren-empire-city-vietnam/index.html
http://buro-os.com/projects/

Solar powered floating farm and restaurant
https://www.yankodesign.com/2017/11/10/not-your-daddys-farm/
https://inhabitat.com/this-solar-powered-floating-farm-combines-agriculture-and-dining-under-one-roof/

Agritecture Blog
https://www.agritecture.com/post

IKEA, David Chang, and ruler of Dubai invest $40 million in Aerofarms
http://aerofarms.com/2017/10/26/ikea-top-chef-david-chang-round-financing-40-million-series-d-round/
https://inhabitat.com/ikea-david-chang-and-ruler-of-dubai-invest-40-million-in-aerofarms-vertical-farming/

Association for Vertical Farming
https://vertical-farming.net

Farmscape - bringing farming to corporate campuses
https://farmscapegardens.com
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/12/05/bringing-nature-into-companies-and-corporate-campuses-with-farmscape/

Amazon patents a “garden service"
https://modernfarmer.com/2017/12/amazon-patent-garden-service-help-grow-food/
https://inhabitat.com/amazon-patents-network-based-gardening-service/

La Caverne, an underground vegetable and mushroom farm under Paris
http://lacaverne.co/en/concept/
https://inhabitat.com/paris-has-a-new-underground-a-massive-farm-for-mushrooms-and-veggies/

Singapore plans to be the first food sustainable city
https://biotechin.asia/2017/12/04/new-start-ups-aiming-make-singapore-first-food-sustainable-city/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-start-ups-aiming-make-singapore-first-food-sustainable-rick-byrd/?trackingId=xvtLqg3ir9ioLa6gatZsaw%3D%3D
https://www.facebook.com/EcolutionAgTech/
https://www.habibigarden.com
https://lasmin.co/#/guestdashboard

Hanoi cafe with koi pond and aquaponics
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/02/koi-cafe-farming-architects-hanoi-vietnam-fish-pond-indoor-waterfall-farm-aquaponics-trees-vegeatables-tiles/

City Agriculture - November 6, 2017

NYC’s largest indoor green wall

http://inhabitat.com/nyc/nearly-10000-plants-grow-on-nycs-largest-public-indoor-green-wall/

Atmospheric carbon capture for C02 enhanced greenhouse growing

http://www.climeworks.com

https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/climeworks-first-commercial-carbon-capture-plant-switzerland.html

Food bank and community farm in Tuscon, AZ

http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-food-bank-that-doesnt-jus-give-away-food-it-teaches-you-to-grow-it-20170926

Metropolis Farms building world’s first solar powered indoor farm in Philadelphia

https://www.metropolisfarmsusa.com/single-post/2017/09/29/The-Worlds-First-Solar-Powered-Indoor-Farm-Is-Happening-In-Philadelphia

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/03/worlds-first-solar-powered-indoor-vertical-farm-comes-philadelphia/

Editorial Comment:  Many believe that vertical farms and indoor growing are more resource-intensive than open field farming.  Could be.  I asked one of the principals of Freight Farm a year or so ago if they had maximized their operations for energy efficiency and was told no.  This debate will continue until the indoor growers do all they can to operate as energy and resource efficiently as possible.  It may be that they can become less energy and resource intensive than open field farming but we’ll have to wait awhile to be certain.  Most haven’t even yet begun that process.

The Netherlands feeds the world - a tiny country is the world’s second largest food exporter

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-farming/

REACT home produces its own energy and food

https://inhabitat.com/food-producing-react-home-sustainably-and-intelligently-adapts-to-your-needs/

https://www.solardecathlon.gov

Milan, Italy rebuilding itself as a garden city

http://www.bbc.com/travel/gallery/20170925-why-milan-is-covering-its-skyscrapers-in-plants

Le Foret Urbaine - a penthouse forest in Paris

https://architizer.com/projects/the-foret-urbaine/

https://inhabitat.com/a-luscious-open-air-urban-forest-tops-this-formerly-abandoned-penthouse/

50% of NYC’s public schools now have gardens

http://www.growtolearn.org

https://www.grownyc.org

https://inhabitat.com/more-than-50-of-new-york-citys-public-schools-now-have-gardens/

Editorial Comment:  I remember visiting NYC gardens back in the 1970s when the Green Guerrillas were just beginning and urban gardening was “new.”  I remember the Purple People and Banana Kelly and the Bronx Pioneers, the small dome Buckminster Fuller helped the Brown Berets build for a garden near Houston Street on the Lower East Side.  A lot of people worked long and hard to make gardens, food, growing plants part of the urban fabric and the education of our children.  Thanks.

6 urban farms feeding the world

https://inhabitat.com/6-urban-farms-feeding-the-world/

NRDC Food Studies - Food Matters: What We Waste and How We Can Expand the Amount of Food We Rescue

https://www.nrdc.org/resources/food-matters-what-we-waste-and-how-we-can-expand-amount-food-we-rescue

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/food-matters-ib.pdf

https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/food-waste-city-level-report.pdf

Community gardens help NY neighborhood heal after Hurricane Sandy

https://cleantechnica.com/2017/10/27/community-gardens-help-heal-broken-neighborhoods/

Garden bridges for rebuilding (and feeding) Mosul after ISIS

http://www.vincent.callebaut.org/object/171023_mosul/mosul/projects/user

https://inhabitat.com/five-bridges-topped-with-urban-farms-could-revitalize-war-torn-mosul/

Solar smart greenhouse - solar electricity and enhanced photosynthesis

https://www.treehugger.com/solar-technology/solar-smart-greenhouses-produce-both-clean-electricity-food-crops.html

City Agriculture - September 25, 2017

Newtown Creek Wildflower Roof - another green roof grows in Brooklyn

http://inhabitat.com/nyc/an-urban-oasis-springs-to-life-in-nycs-newtown-creek-wildflower-roof/

http://www.alivestructures.com/projects

Growing Local:  A Community Guide to Planning for Agriculture and Food Systems - because city agriculture requires a community food system
http://www.farmlandinfo.org/growing-local-community-guide-planning-agriculture-and-food-systems

hat tip to Julia Freedgood, one of the authors and an old friend

Davenport, Iowa grocery store grows greens in a vertical garden onsite

https://www.fridaysfreshmarket.com

http://inhabitat.com/iowa-store-grows-10-15-lbs-of-produce-on-outdoor-vertical-garden-every-week/

Syrians under siege grow mushrooms to feed themselves

https://globalvoices.org/2017/09/02/syrians-in-a-besieged-town-are-learning-to-grow-mushrooms-to-survive/

Ho Chi Minh City 10 story office tower designed with space for trees

http://votrongnghia.com/projects/nanoco-head-office-ho-chi-minh/

https://www.designboom.com/architecture/vtn-architects-nanoco-head-office-vietnam-06-01-2017/

http://inhabitat.com/translucent-ho-chi-minh-city-office-tower-infused-with-greenery-helps-combat-urban-pollution/

Algae Dome

https://youtu.be/xFt4Mjna2dk

https://medium.com/space10-the-farm/how-algae-could-help-solve-some-of-the-worlds-biggest-problems-1fa7774a16b1

http://inhabitat.com/incredible-algae-dome-absorbs-sunshine-and-co2-to-produce-superfood-and-oxygen/

Mushroom growing under solar panels in Japan

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Can-mushrooms-and-solar-power-fill-Japan-s-vacant-farmland

Grow Dat Youth Farm - New Orleans turns 2 acres of City Park’s former golf course into a farm

http://growdatyouthfarm.org

http://inhabitat.com/new-orleans-golf-course-transformed-into-citys-biggest-urban-farm-with-an-eco-campus/

Bike Share Farm
https://youtu.be/4X9YM37DsDA

http://www.core77.com/projects/68407/Roll-into-the-Weekend-with-this-Solar-Powered-Planting-System-on-Wheels

23-acre Hilltop Urban Farm for Pittsburgh, PA, largest urban farmed in the USA

https://www.facebook.com/HilltopUrbanFarmPGH/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-farming-urban-farm/post-industrial-pittsburgh-to-host-americas-largest-urban-farm-idUSKCN1BL0LC

Exhale, living chandelier which purifies air 

http://inhabitat.com/extraordinary-living-chandelier-with-algae-filled-leaves-purifies-the-air/

Eden-ISS - how to grow produce in Antarctica or space

http://www.dlr.de/irs/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-11408/#gallery/29071

http://inhabitat.com/new-antarctic-farm-will-grow-produce-despite-temperatures-of-100-degrees-f/

City Agriculture - August 16, 2017

Lufa Farms - three rooftop soil-less farms to feed 2% of Montreal

https://youtu.be/Trl2eE-kVGM

IGA Extra Famille Duchemin in Saint-Laurent, a borough of Montreal which is pushing green roofs, now claims to be the first grocery store in Canada to sell produce grown on its own roof

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/montreal+growing+vegetables+roof/13797151/story.html

https://www.facebook.com/IGADuchemin/
 

Urban farmer in Detroit

http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/working/2017/06/how_does_urban_farmer_greg_willerer_work.html

City Tree - "binds harmful particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and CO2, matching the enormous environmental benefits of up to 275 urban trees"

https://greencitysolutions.de/en/solutions/#section1bottom

Urban Farming in Sacramento

http://www.salon.com/2017/07/02/when-you-used-to-say-farmer-you-would-not-have-me-as-the-picture-urban-farming-in-sacremento/

Urban agriculture design for Romainville, France

http://www.archdaily.com/874922/ilimelgo-reimagines-future-of-urban-agriculture-in-romainville

hat tip Greg Watson

Holland’s first vertical forest

http://inhabitat.com/hollands-first-vertical-forest-to-rise-with-10000-air-purifying-plants/

https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/portfolios/urban-tower-for-antwerp/

Behind the scenes at Eindhoven’s new vertical farm

https://singularityhub.com/2017/07/13/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-europes-huge-new-vertical-farm/

And another development in Eindhoven

https://www.mvrdv.com/en/news/eindhoven-selects-mvrdvs-nieuw-bergen-a-design-for-sustainable-residences-in-the-city-centre

Vertical agriculture company Plenty gets $200 million in funding

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40659617

https://www.facebook.com/plentyag/

12 Agrihoods

http://www.shareable.net/blog/12-agrihoods-taking-farm-to-table-living-mainstream

Drone footage of Shanghai building with space for 1000 trees

https://youtu.be/wYsnpd3gMFk

LA’s Cedars Sinai Hospital Healing Plaza Garden

http://www.ahbe.com/portfolio/cedars-sinai-healing-plaza-garden

http://inhabitat.com/restorative-healing-gardens-take-over-a-concrete-garage-rooftop-in-l-a/

City Agriculture - June 13, 2017

InFarm for supermarkets who want to grow their own food 

https://www.fastcompany.com/3058155/at-this-supermarket-the-produce-section-grows-its-own-produce

Editorial Comment:  This may be my favorite of the shipping container farms now as they seem to be thinking most seriously about reducing energy and water requirements

Forest cities to fight air pollution in China

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/17/forest-cities-radical-plan-china-air-pollution-stefano-boeri

Greenhouse for the Moon and Mars

http://inhabitat.com/nasa-unveils-inflatable-greenhouse-for-sustainable-farming-on-mars/

https://cals.arizona.edu/lunargreenhouse/PhaseII.htm

World’s largest vertical garden in Bogata, Colombia

http://inhabitat.com/the-worlds-largest-vertical-garden-blooms-with-85000-plants-in-the-heart-of-bogota/

Hong Kong's rooftop farms

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170517-an-inside-view-of-hong-kongs-hidden-rooftop-farms

Plenty - an indoor vertical growing system aiming for high efficiency in both input and output

https://www.fastcompany.com/40420610/has-this-silicon-valley-startup-finally-nailed-the-indoor-farming-model

Seoul’s Skygarden - urban overpass to greenspace transformation

https://www.mvrdv.nl/en/projects/seoul-skygarden

http://www.archdaily.com/871754/mvrdvs-skygarden-a-transformed-983-meter-former-highway-opens-in-seoul

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/05/22/mvrdv-seoullo-7017-conversion-overpass-highway-road-park-garden-high-line-seoul-south-korea/

Editorial Comment:  Seoul has also resurrected a formerly buried river:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonggyecheon

Texas supermarket chain to grow its own produce in shipping “Growtainers"

http://www.andnowuknow.com/quick-dish/h-e-b-owned-central-market-partners-cea-advisors-and-growtainer-store/jordan-okumura/53774#

http://inhabitat.com/this-texas-supermarket-is-growing-its-own-veggies-in-a-shipping-container-farm/

Chinese plant factories to grow clean food in dirty cities

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-05-25/-plant-factories-churn-out-clean-food-in-china-s-dirty-cities

hat tip Fred Hapgood

Taipei “Forest Bus,” with turf-lined seats,hanging orchids and ferns that continued to run as a mode of transport from florist Alfie Lin and designer Xiao Qing-Yang 

http://inhabitat.com/city-bus-transformed-into-an-enchanting-forest-reconnects-commuters-to-nature/

https://www.facebook.com/1973lin/

See through garden house in Ho Chi Minh City

http://www.archdaily.com/872113/less-house-ha

http://inhabitat.com/glowing-see-through-garden-house-lets-plants-soak-up-the-sun/

Editorial Comment:  Vietnamese architects and designers are doing some very good work on urban agriculture.

Google’s million square foot “Landscraper” for London - rooftop gardens over multiple storeys with “plateau,” “gardens,” and “fields” planted with strawberries, gooseberries and sage

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/01/google-submits-plans-million-sq-ft-london-hq-construction-kings-cross

200 square meters, 3500 kg per year production in Gaza hydroponic urban farm

https://vimeo.com/192703220

Terrill:  solar weeding robot, Roomba for your garden

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rorymackean/tertill-the-solar-powered-weeding-robot-for-home-g?ref=5j5256

hat tip Michel Selva

Editorial Comment:  I, for one, welcome our new robot gardening overlords

City Agriculture - April 21, 2017

An apartment filled with plants
http://modernfarmer.com/2016/07/summer-rayne-oakes/

Daytonian in Manhattan - "The stories behind the buildings, statues and other points of interest that make Manhattan fascinating.”
Can’t have a viable city agriculture without an understanding of the buildings on the land and their histories.
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com

MyFood smart solar backyard greenhouse with aquaponics
https://myfood.eu

Ecoqube Frame - tabletop or vertical garden for micro greens
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kevinzl/ecoqube-frame-best-vertical-garden

Purdue University Biowall to clean air and save energy
https://techxplore.com/news/2017-03-biowall-household-air-energy-bills.html

Starchitect Daniel Libeskind designs shyscraper with vertical garden for Toulouse, France
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/daniel-libeskind-skyscraper-first-in-historical-french-city

Buildings like trees:  Oas1s
https://www.oas1s.com
https://youtu.be/B3gbfDfjDto

BBC on vertical farming
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170405-how-vertical-farming-reinvents-agriculture

100 hectare urban farming district in Shanghai
http://www.archdaily.com/868129/sasaki-unveils-design-for-sunqiao-a-100-hectare-urban-farming-district-in-shanghai

Vietnamese house which provides food for three generations of residents in Ho Chi Minh City
http://www.archdaily.com/868963/binh-house-vo-trong-nhia-architects
http://votrongnghia.com/projects/binh-house/

Hanoi house with plants to clean polluted air
http://hungnguyenarchitects.weebly.com/our-work.html
http://www.archdaily.com/869376/pavilion-of-the-origins-hung-nguyen-architects

First vertical farm in the Netherlands
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/04/19/vertical-farming-taking-off-europes-first-commercial-vertical-farm-construction-netherlands/

City Agriculture - March 3, 2017

Floating gardens for the Chicago River

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1996859969/floating-gardens-in-the-chicago-river

Skyville, Singapore - high-rise with each home sharing a sheltered community garden terrace

http://www.archdaily.com/800832/skyville-woha

http://www.woha.net/#SkyVille@Dawson

Rooftop garden in Tel-Aviv’s Dizengoff Center, the first shopping mall ever built in Israel, with vegetables sold on the honor system and the garden also serves as a classroom for classes on urban agriculture

http://livingreen.co.il/en/urban-farming-israel-en/

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/tel-avivs-rooftop-farm-grows-vegetables-thousands-people.html

MIT Open Agriculture’s "Food Computer,” open source food production

http://openag.media.mit.edu/hardware/

14 story apartment building in Brisbane, AU with a vertical forest

http://walanapartments.com.au/walan-apartments.html

Urban farm incubator from Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon Musk

http://squarerootsgrow.com

ReGen Village designed to produce all its own food and energy
https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/20/effekt-designs-regen-villages-produce-own-food-energy-danish-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-2016/
http://www.regenvillages.com

Urban farm in Moscow, Russia teaches children how to grow their own food

http://en.wowhaus.ru/architecture/farm.html

Forest cities for China

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/17/forest-cities-radical-plan-china-air-pollution-stefano-boeri

Herbert - wall garden system

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1706256286/herbert-grow-fresh-organic-food-at-home/description