Thesis Proposal 2010-11 ::

Vertical Farming Complex Place making with alternative methods of food production

Tom Foley
08/23/2010

Introduction :: The Vertical Farm - An alternative to tomorrows food crisis

A simple equation - A difficult problem
Right now, to feed humanity, we use land equivalent to the size of South
America to grow and harvest our food
By 2050 it is predicted that the worlds population will have grown to 9.5
billion people, necessitating the cultivation of another 2.1 billion acres of
land
Ultimately, this amount of land needed to feed the growing population is
not available.
The question than becomes - Where and how will we get the food we
need? (Despommier 80)

The challenge - Transforming the industrial machine

The current institution of industrial farming done in Americas breadbasket
and elsewhere in the world, as a major consumer of freshwater and fossil
fuels has led to significant & deleterious problems:
deforestation and agricultural runoff, the overabundance of
green house gases, and a culture, especially in America, of
unhealthy and unsustainable consumption (Despommier 80)
If we are to subsist as a species in the following century and those to come,
it is imperative that we develop modes of agriculture that do less damage to
both the environment and to our own health, while maximizing the usage
of land that is currently available
One such method of production could be that of Vertical Farming

Controlled burning - Deforestation for farming

Goals & Objectives :: The Vertical Farm - A new Institution and form of urban infrastructure
Practical Realities
Vertical farming, which proposes stacking acres of crops vertically in high-rises
instead of arraying them over the earths surface, has the potential to avoid & help
reduce many of the aforementioned problems posed by the existing industrial
food complex. Ultimately its aim is not only to produce food but to promote better health for both human beings and for the worlds flora & fauna.
The Vertical farm would:
1. Take up a considerably smaller footprint than conventional farms both reducing the need to deforesting large amounts of land, while also allowing existing
farms to return to their natural state (promoting the absorption of more carbon
dioxide)
2. Be far less damaging to the environment (including ourselves) by avoiding the
use of fossil fuels and smartly eliminating its own waste with that of the city in
which it is located
The citys blackwater along with the excess plant material from the farm itself
could be incinerated generating steam to power turbines. Other renewable energy
sources such as geothermal, wind, and solar energy could be used to power the
farms production
3. With its location in a dense urban center, the vertical farm could eliminate
the need for hauling food from long distances to the point of distribution. This
would allow for a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels, the lowering of
greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately more affordable food
4. Finally, with the addition of a community garden component, the vertical farm
could empower those who participate to become better informed about what
they eat, promoting on the whole, healthier communities (Despommier 84).
Monoculture of corn - Industrial food complex

Theoretical Issues
At its core, the Vertical farm can be viewed as a political act that subverts the values implicit in industrial food production. Instead of quantity over quality, turning a profit, & the ultimate goal of a
pliable and naive consumer with which to sustain these ends, the Vertical farm, has the potential to
be a didactic agent, encouraging the costumer to think independently, thus making better decisions
when purchasing their food. By bringing the customer in close proximity to their food source, by informing them of how their food is produced, by directly involving people in the production process,
through community gardens and new jobs, the currently alienating act of purchasing food becomes
a source of liberation & empowerment. Ultimately, the goal behind the Vertical farm is a healthier,
more knowledgeable citizenry that acts for the future and not just for the present.

Project Objectives
Goals for designing a vertical farm in Philadelphia are:
1. To ensure healthier, more empowered Philadelphians
2. To promote communal activity. The site at which the vertical farm springs should be a place
of meeting and coming together. It should be a home for the spreading of ideas and the promotion of sustainability as a set of values. The vertical farm and the complex in which it is situated
should respond directly in terms of form/use to the adjacent city fabric while taking into consideration the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods
3. To treat this problem as a problem of infrastructure. The vertical farm has the power to become an important and even essential component of the various systems (energy, water, waste)
that help run this city and all others
4. To, after all else, maximize the towers presence as a symbol evoking its positive, life sustaining
purpose from near and afar

Image Credits
http://www.ifaj.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Photo_Contest/2008/nature/Cornfield.jpg
http://chey04.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/deforest.jpg
http://aspenranchrealestate.com/images/steersinfeedlot_000.jpg
http://www.ecokaren.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HFCS-study-from-Princeton-University.jpg
http://www.go-explore-trans.org/images/2007/nov-dec/cars_corn_mill.jpg
http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/new-coca-cola-bottle.jpg
http://cdn.buzznet.com/media-cdn/jj1/headlines/2008/08/michael-phelps-kelloggs-corn-flakes.jpg
http://static.open.salon.com/files/big_mac1249422029.jpg
http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2008/08/01/fat-shirtless-guy-eating-cheeseburger-2_kiq3d_17340.jpg

Table of Contents
Precedent Studies

Site Analysis
Programming Models
Functional Relationships
Space Program
Cost Estimate
Code Analysis
Project Schedule

Precedent Study #1
Title : Urban Farm, Urban Epicenter
Location : Located in the Meat Packing district in lower Manhattan,
adjacent to the Highline & river front

Author : Student Project from verticalfarm.com

Project Issues
Social: The primary focus of this project is to provide a new social infrastructure that will link people through the production of food (new jobs & ways of
consuming and distributing).
1.) At the towers base there is a major civic plaza. Within there is a great room
where a farmers market and food distribution occur. Also at the base are shops
and retail that continue the adjacent, existing city fabric
2.) With a raised public plinth for farming the tower proper connects to a new
and major public thoroughfare, the Highline
3.) The tower has a substantial mixture of public & private functions. Where
farming is not occurring, on the north side, are public uses such as reading rooms
and lounges. These spaces continue all the way up to a wetlands display, where at
the end there is an observation deck for the general public.
4.) The tower, in plan rotates to achieve views down the Hudson River for both
public and private users
Technological: A secondary focus for the project is that of how one efficiently
grows crops in a conditioned atmosphere, while minimizing energy consumption
1.) Where the farming occurs there is a major southern orientation, allowing for
sunlight to drive much of the growth. Plants are located in plan according to how
much sun exposure they need. In section, the farming area steps back each floor,
allowing for an angled envelope most conducive for solar penetration
2.) The floor plates slope toward the southern most corner carrying water to
plants via gravity.
3.) Offices & residences work in tandem with the water purification section to
eliminate waste and re-use water for hydroponic farming
4.) The towers ventilation is powered by the stack effect drawing air up a large
atrium space allowing it to exit at the buildings midpoint. The small floor plate
at upper floors allow for cross ventilation.

Programmatic Section

Programmatic Relationships:

Water Collection

Plan & Section

Vertical Circulation

Programmatic Floor
Plan
Farming Support
facilities
-Storage
-Labs
-Working areas
-Private Lounge

Mixed use programming

provides for a greater variety
of activities within the tower.
They also feed into the Water
Purification element, supplying it with black/grey water

Public Programs
-Reading Areas
-Book Stacks,
-Public Lounge

Private

Offices

Communal
Greenhouse

Semi-Public
Public Observation

Public

Water Purification
1. Anaerobic Septic
Tank
2. Aerobic Reactor
3. Clarifier
4. Indoor Wetlands

Farmers Market
Below
Sloping floor
plate
Vegetable Growth Area
-The floor plates slope
toward the south carrying
water via gravity to plants

Private

Residences

Private

Deck

Public

N
Industrial
&
Experimental Farming

Private/Public

Farmers Market, Shops, & Civic Plaza

Public

Private/Public
Highline

Community Gardens/Farming

Street Level

Precedent Study #2
Title : Experimental Vertical Farm - Urban artificial ecosystem
Location : Santiago, Chile; as a prototype located in wasted urban

areas such as at the intersections of major road/highways where clovers

form

Author : Student Project from verticalfarm.com

Project Issues
Social: The social component doesnt express itself in the projects given program
but rather in the exposition - a case is made for why vertical farming can be a
more environmentally responsible solution to the question of food production
than traditional farming, how the thoughtful placement of vertical farms in a city
can turn unproductive vestigial spaces into vital food producing places with positive identities, & finally how the vertical farm will create new job opportunities
for local residences. The only public program is at the towers base where there
is an array of gardens & the distribution center, which functions as the public
interface
Technological: While the previous project stressed the public connections the
vertical farm as a typology must make with its surrounds, this project places
emphasis on the VFs role as a major source of food, and thus on the buildings
overall efficiency. The intention is for it to function just as a natural ecosystem
would using sunlight, wind, & gravity to do the work rather than fossil fuels.
Focuses:
1.) The programmatic layout in section works to streamline production so that
the plants/crops are always traveling downward in the production process
2.) Like with the other project the floor plates for the actual growing of plants are
sloped to efficiently carry water & air
3.) More emphasis is placed in this project on the building skin and how it will
capture and store heat for ventilation purposes
4.) There is less concern or sensitivity, than with the first project, to how sun
actually penetrates the building skin and what angle or form the skin might take
on to optimize that penetration
5.) Plants are located within each floor plate according to how much light they
need

Programmatic Section

Programmatic Relationships:

Plan & Section
Crop Unit
The main floor plate in agricultural production slops so as
to more efficiently distribute
water and air via gravity

Floor plate

Programmatic Floor
Plan

Crop area
Plants located in different zones per how
much light/radiation
they need

The programmatic layout in section mimics the industrial food

production model:
1. Food production- plants
harvest energy to grow
2. Harvesting & processingtaking the plant, cleaning it,
making it ready for consumption
3. Distribution of productmoving the plants to local
distributors

Energy collection
Solar panels

Agricultural Production
1. Planting
2. Maintenance
3. Harvest

Private

Private

Floor of air & water

Central Core
1. main plumbing/ventilation
2. storage
3. freight elevators
4. walkways from floor to floor

Building skin
The double skin acts as a
trombe wall capturing and
controlling heat gain - helping
to maintain constant temperatures during the day and night

Packing
Cleaning &
Simple processing

Storage

Dispatching & Distributing

Private

Private

Private

Exterior patchwork gardens

Public

Project Site

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Part of what makes vertical farming a viable solution for the future production of food is the ability
to locate the building close to distributors and
purchasers of produce. Whereas the food which
comprises the average American meal travels 1500
miles from the source to the plate, with the vertical farm it might travel a mile (Pollan). Accordingly, this proximity cuts down tremendously on
fuel consumption.
Locating a vertical farm in Philadelphia, Ive chosen a site that will maximize the vertical farms effectiveness in this regard. Placing it in an area just
north of the Convention Center that is bounded
by the Vine Street Expressway, the vertical farm
will be closest to the greatest number of people,
right in the heart of Center City.

Reading Viaduct

Independence Mall

Rittenhouse Park
Schuylkill River

Delaware River

Connections

It would take just 15 30-story

vertical farms to feed one million people (Despommier 85).

With a vertical farm at this site there are several important

contextual relationships to consider both at the scale of the
city and the immediate site -

If two towers at this size

were erected on site, 134,000
people could be fed covering
well over the residential population of Center City, which
is 88,000 people. The towers
could also feed some of the
147,000 people who commute
to Center City daily for the
purpose of working

Vine Street

Focus Area
Race Street

Reading
Terminal

11th Street

Broad Street

Convention Center

Current food distributors

VF
Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphias grocery

stores & farmers markets
Adjacent communities needs
VF
Center City, Chinatown, Loft District
Urban pattern
VF
Within the site (typology, form & scale, historic
import), the immediate context (Hanamen hospi

tal, the Convention Center, the Vine Street

Expressway), the Reading Viaduct
Current Infrastructure
VF
Waste management, water & energy supplies, city

transit systems

Immediate Context

Buildable land within the site

The site is home to low-rise warehouses, surface parking lots along Vine Street, historic
buildings and rowhomes, hotels/lofts, & small scale commercial activity along Race
Street.

In considering the towers placement within the focus area one

has to look at the current land uses, where there are vacancies,
and what buildings or developments because of their connections to place & their historic presence must be maintained

Its boarded by three main districts: Chinatown to the east, the Loft District to the
north, & Center City to the south and west

The area from which I am drawing a site is currently being

studied by the citys Urban Design Division within the City
Planning Commission - the below diagrams are taken from that
study of which I was a contributing member

Land Use Key

Site Benefits

Photograph of the area of focus with Benjamin Franklin bridge

in the background

1. Available parcels which have

gone unbuilt along with many
properties that have derelict &
under-utilized warehouses

Existing Land Use

2. Proximity to the greatest

number of people; located in
center city

Center City

3. Full exposure to the south

(from the convention center)
allowing for natural lighting and
solar energy

Reading
Terminal

Historic Buildings in blue

Vine St Expressway

Focus Area
11th St

Chinatown
Loft District

Broad St
Buildable Areas

Arch St

Programming Models
Potential VF Program

Housing - hotel, lofts, rowhomes, within the VF tower

Offices - within the VF tower
Retail - ethnic shops (extension of Chinatown), grocery store,
farmers market

Farming program

Hydroponic growing
Support facilities
Building systems
Vertical circulations
Administrations
Packing & Distributions
Housing
Offices
Retail
Community gardens
Outreach
Civic space/Great room

Community program

Civic spaces

Outreach

Community gardens

Retail

Community gardens
Outreach - educational facilities, community rooms, observation deck
Civic plaza/Great room

Offices

Housing

Packing & Distributions

Administrations

Vertical circulations

Building systems

Support facilities

Matrix

Hydroponic growing

Hydroponic growing area

Support facilities - research laboratories, experimental growing
Building systems - energy collection/generation, waste management, ventilation, water circulation
Vertical circulation - general/freight elevators, fire stairs
Administration - offices, lounges, kitchen, reception
Packing & Distribution - processing, loading area, crop storage

Adjacency

Precedent Programs

Contextual program

Key
Most

Least

Study #1
1. Industrial/experimental farming
-Farming support facilities

+Storage

+Labs

+Working areas

+Private lounge
-Hydroponic growing area
-Public outreach

+Reading areas

+Book stacks

+Public Lounge
2. Tower base
-Community gardens
-Farmers market
-Shops
-Civic plaza
3. Water Purification component
-Anaerobic septic tank
-Aerobic Reactor
-Clarifier
-Indoor Wetlands
4. Public observation deck
5. Communal greenhouse
6. Offices
7. Residences
8. Water collection component

Study #2
1. Agricultural Production
-Support area

+Storage

+Plumbing

+Freight elevators
-Hydroponic growing area
2. Tower base
-Dispatching & distribution
-Community gardens
3. Crop storage
4. Packing facilities
5. Solar energy collection

Project Issues

Some questions & problems

Community Technology
Chinatown
Loft District
Center City
Convention
Center guests
tourists
Physical links
Program
connections
Destination
Gardens

Site

Outreach

Phasing

Form

Growing of
crops

Building
context

Educational
interface

Towers

Scale

Hydroponics

Rowhomes

Overall
complex

Height

Drip
Irrigation

Historic
Buildings

Surrounding
communities

Aeroponics

Lofts

Energy
harvesting

Warehouses
Small business

Waste
incineration
Solar, wind
& geothermal
energy
Building skin
Sunlight
Ventilation
Irrigation/water collection
Waste
management
Structure/
building
materials
Vertical
circulation

Surface
parking lots
Vine St Expressway
Reading
Viaduct
Convention
Center
City Hall,
Broad St,
Center City,
Reading
Terminal
Market
Hanamen
hospital
Roman
Catholic
High School

Gardening
programs
Tourism
interface

Housing
Offices

Relationship
to City Hall

Retail

Expression

Physical
Farming/food connections
production across Vine St
display/tours
Exwy
Agricultural
school

Community
gardens

Roman
Catholic
High School

Convention
Center
connections

Presence on
Broad St &
Vine St Exwy

Volume

Structure
Building skin
Plant growth
Human
activity
Procession/
experience/
image
For tourist/
visitor
For
Philadelphian
For local
Civic space/
Great room
Views down
the river

1. What program should be included to serve the surrounding communities?

Would the Chinatown community participate in community gardening?

What about the artist community located in the Loft District?
What measures could be taken to help extend Chinatown west & even
north via the vertical farming complex?

2. What program should be included to serve the visitors to the Convention

center?
What kind of activities or level of public engagement should the project
commit itself to, to draw in visitors, to make a lasting impression?
3. What kind of natural energy sources are available to this project - being
located in Center City Philadelphia?
If waste incineration is a major renewable energy producer for the
vertical farm as a building type - How can one manage this process in a
densely populated urban area? How can one harvest waste from the surrounding area?
4. How should the vertical farm as a high-rise structure relate to the existing
fabric of rowhomes & small historic buildings?
How should the buildings base both in suggested program & scale relate
to that fabric? What kind of gestures should the tower proper make to
mitigate the consequential difference in size?
5. What physical use of or connection to the Convention Center can be made?
As a continuous surface of several city blocks exposed throughout the
day to sunlight, could the Convention Centers roof be co-opted to grow
crops?
6. What relationship should the complex take on with the Vine St Expressway
& Reading Viaduct?
With the City looking into the Reading Viaduct as a candidate for
reinvestment, can a move be made to bridge the expressway, engaging
the Viaduct as a productive landscape for the growing of food? How
can this connection also result in making a pedestrian place out of the
expressway helping to connect rather than separate what is to its north
and south?

Functional Relationships
Potential VF Program
Hydroponic growing
Support facilities - SF

Reading Viaduct

Building systems - BS
Community gardens

Vertical circulation - VC

Civic space/Great room

Outreach
Farmers Market
P&D

Living & Retail

Administration
Packing & Distribution

Hydroponic growing - Solar/water collection

Convention Center

Housing

Office
Retail

Programmatic Site Plan

Solar/water
collection

Community gardens
Outreach

Public observation deck

Community space

Civic space/Great room

Option 1

Reading Viaduct

BS
&
VC

Hydroponic growing
Support facilities
Administration

Great View
Condos

Programmatic Site Section

Community gardens
Living & Retail

Living/
Offices

500 - Height of
City Hall

Hydroponic growing - Solar/water collection

100
Community gardens
Living & Retail
Vine St Expressway

Civic space/Great room

Outreach
Farmers Market
P&D

Convention Center

Buildable areas

Potential phasing of the complex

Reading
Viaduct
Vine St Expressway

Connection
to Viaduct

Community gardens
Living & Retail

Tower

Programmatic
Section cut

Programmatic Floor Plan

Broad
St

Living
Offices

SF

BS & VC

Tower

Convention
Center

SF

Hydroponic growing Solar/water collection

Solar/water
collection

Hydroponic growing
Public observation deck
500 - Height of
Community space
City Hall

Option 2

Living/
Offices

BS
&
VC

Hydroponic growing
Support facilities
Administration

Programmatic Site Section

Community gardens
Living & Retail
Reading Viaduct

Solar/water collection
Civic space/Great room
Outreach
Farmers Market
P&D
Vine St Expressway

Community gardens
Living & Retail

Convention Center

Space Program for Tower

Tower Program

Gross sqft

Hydroponic growing

495,000 sqft

Support facilities
Administration
Building systems
Vertical circulation

Departmental
Space Allocations

Living
Offices
30 floors @
16,500 sqft

Support facilities
Administration
30 floors @
6,600 sqft

198,000 sqft
Hydroponic
growing
30 floors @
16,500 sqft

72,000 sqft

Packing & Distribution

Outreach

180,000 sqft

Civic space/Great room

Housing
Offices

Tower Total

Vertical Circulation
Building systems
36 floors @
2,000 sqft

495,000 sqft

Civic space
Outreach
Farmers Market
P&D
4 floors @
45,000 sqft

1,440,000 sqft

Maximum
Volume/Massing

Living/
Offices

SF

500 tall
36 floors @
45,000 sqft per floor

BS & VC

SF
Solar/water
collection

Hydroponic growing
Public observation deck
500 - Height of
Community space
City Hall

Option 2

Living
Offices

BS
&
VC

Hydroponic growing
Support facilities
Administration

Programmatic Site Section

Convention
Center

Community gardens
Living & Retail
Reading Viaduct

Civic space/Great room

Outreach
Farmers Market
P&D
Vine St Expressway

Community gardens
Living & Retail

Code Analysis

Work Cited

From the Urban Design Planning report for this area...

Despommier, Dickson. The Rise of Vertical Farms. Scientific American 301.5 (2009):
80-87. Web.

[The study area falls under a C4 classification]. C4 is a high density commercial district that allows mixed use development in highrise buildings. C4 has its own sign regulations. The basic amount
of gross floor area permitted is 500%. An additional 800% of gross
floor area is permitted for meeting specific requirements

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivores Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals. New
York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
Woolley, Hillary. Vegetables in the Sky. Fortune International 156 (2007). Web.
Student projects from verticalfarm.com
Philadelphia Urban Design draft report from 10/2009
Spring Street Narrative - an Urban Design Study

Schedule/final product
Date

Goals - By this date

Final Program
09/13/2010

-Revise program based upon given criticism

-Begin to consider the final program and its relationship to the site in terms of its restrictions/affordances

Fall Group Review

10/08/2010

-Develop a schematic master plan that synthesizes the previous data gathered, presenting possible layouts and configurations of the current program
on a given site
-Further accumulate case studies and technical research that will help the project transition from a master planning stage to a design stage

Intermediate Review
-While responding to criticism, choose a single master plan option and focus on its preliminary design (volume, form, and aesthetic expression) as a
01/08/2011
whole

-For the vertical farm, allow the accrued technical knowledge acquired by this point to inform decisions made in plan, section, elevation concerning

basic food production, building aesthetics, and occupant experience

-Focus on the vertical farms overall expression, concentrating on its presence as a possible symbolic centerpiece for the complex and city at large

Final Review/Product
-After incorporating the suggestions and criticism garnered at the intermediate review, push the architectural/expressionistic qualities of the tower
04/30/2011
and master plan so that an immediate sense of coherency, identity, and place is felt and achieved with the overall design.

-Ensure that the verbal and physical presentation evince the project as a logical, fluid, and transparent progression towards an architectural solution.

-The final product comprised of eye level and aerial perspectives, photo collages, sections/elevations/plans, and physical models will tell a varied

experiential story, demonstrating what the vertical farming complex will be like for those who work, shop, garden, grow, and live within its


physical-symbolic presence.