RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Farms’

Long Acre Farms in New York celebrates Kodak with giant camera corn maze design

23 Aug

Long Acre Farms in Macedon, New York, has unveiled the autumn 2018 pattern for its Amazing Maize Maze: a giant Kodak camera. The design was created for Kodak’s 130th anniversary and Long Acre Farms’ 25th anniversary; it features a vintage camera, large flash, a finger capturing an image, and a strip of film.

One of Long Acre Farms’ owners, Joan Allen, explained the reason for the design to WXXI News, saying the farm has provided guests with an opportunity to create memories and capture images of them for decades:

You know we all think of, maybe, I’m pretty sure it’s worldwide, to think of capturing a memory with a Kodak camera and given that that’s our neighbor right her[e] in Rochester this seems like an appropriate theme.

Long Acre Farms shares images on Instagram and provides information on tickets and more on Facebook.

Via: WXXI News

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Long Acre Farms in New York celebrates Kodak with giant camera corn maze design

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Reclaiming Urban Food Production: 12 Smart Designs for Farms & Gardens

23 Feb

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

urban garden main

Most urban environments aren’t lacking in sunlight – it’s a lack of square footage and healthy soil that makes it hard to use these spaces to grow food. While many a high-tech concept design has envisioned vertical skyscraper farms or entire cities built from scratch, we need low-cost solutions that can be implemented into disused urban spaces, easily assembled and moved when necessary. These smart urban farming and gardening ideas reclaim pallets, cardboard tubes, shipping containers and bicycle wheels, and many take advantage of sunny available spaces on rooftops, in abandoned buildings or along stretches of hot concrete walls.

The Growroom: IKEA Flat-Pack Spherical Garden

space10 garden

ikea urban garden 1

ikea urban garden 2

ikea urban garden 3

Developed by IKEA’s external innovation hub, Space10, the Growroom is a spherical structure that makes it easy to grow lots of food in a compact space thanks to its unique design. Since shipping the structure around the world would be too expensive and negate some of the benefits of local food sourcing, IKEA decided to offer the structure as an open-source design built with plywood, a CNC milling machine and a rubber hammer.

Floating Gardens in an Abandoned Chinese Factory

floating gardens 1

floating gardens 2

floating gardens 3

floating gardens 4

This area along the Pearl River Delta in Shenzhen was once a thriving community relying on fish ponds and water-based commerce, but most of that has since vanished in the face of rapid urbanization, leaving many abandoned structures behind. ‘Floating Fields’ occupies this space and makes it useful again as an aquaponic garden. Created for the Urbanism\Architecture Bi-City Biennale, the installation is an experiment in water-based gardening, algae cultivation, sustainable food production and water filtering in an underutilized urban environment.

Recycled Cardboard Tube Garden

recycled cardboard tube garden 1

recycled cardboard tube garden 2

Water-resistant, recyclable cardboard tubes provide the basis for a modern pop-up garden in Sydney by Australian design studio Foolscap. The tubes were used to build the walls of a temporary outdoor recreation space, taking inspiration from the formwork used to cast concrete columns in a nearby Sydney neighborhood. In addition to an outdoor theater, food and co-working areas, ‘Wulugul Pop Up’ had its own edible garden full of native plants.

Grid Garden on Wheels

grid garden on wheels

grid garden on wheels 2

grid garden on wheels 3

This clever portable garden rests on reclaimed bicycle wheels and features an open gridded design so sunlight can reach tiered plants. The ‘Why not in the garden?’ installation by A4A Rivolta Savioni Studio was literally rolled out into a Milan city square to demonstrate how concrete urban spaces can be temporarily used for food production.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Reclaiming Urban Food Production 12 Smart Designs For Farms Gardens

Share on Facebook





[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Reclaiming Urban Food Production: 12 Smart Designs for Farms & Gardens

Posted in Creativity

 

Retail Micro-Farming: MIT & Target to Launch In-Store Vertical Farms

07 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

target-vertical-farms

At the convergence of the localvore and vertical farming movements, Target’s new in-store micro-farms are positioned to offer the freshest possible produce to consumers. On offer: leafy greens and herbs initially but eventually also potatoes, beets, zucchini, tomatoes peppers and more.

city-farm-design

In collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and IDEO, the company’s Food + Future CoLab will be testing their indoor production technology in stores around the country starting next spring. Target aims to leverage its scale to optimize their approach over time while also using their strategy to attract conscientious consumers.

vertical-farming-in-store

Among other advantages, local and in-store aquaponic setups require less water and no pesticides as compared to outdoor alternatives. Also, since stores are already temperature-controlled for food storage and customer consideration, heating and cooling are effectively taken care of without additional energy expenditures.

vertical-farm-store

Neither vertical farming nor close-to-source produce are new. Huge vertical farms have enjoyed success from Japan to New Jersey and rooftop farms often provide food for local communities or restaurants and hotels below. Still, like a similar project in Germany, this takes the idea to the next level, offering fresh organic crops alongside conventional ones right in a retail grocery shopping outlet. As populations continue to urbanize, demand for city-grown food (without the transportation costs and with appeal to local-oriented eaters) will only continue to grow.

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Retail Micro-Farming: MIT & Target to Launch In-Store Vertical Farms

Posted in Creativity

 

Spilt Milk: 12 Udderly Abandoned Dairies & Dairy Farms

07 Nov

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

dairy-farms-1a

Now you calcium, now you don’t… OK, that was awful but so’s the sight of these abandoned dairy farms moldering away ’til the cows come home.

dairy-farms-1b

dairy-farms-1e

The so-called “Scary Dairy” in Camarillo, California was a dairy farm operated under the auspices of the former Camarillo State Mental Hospital. The dairy opened in 1932 and was part of an enlightened (for the time) program that explored alternative treatments for the mentally ill. We’ll refrain from making any “mad cow disease” references.

dairy-farms-1c

dairy-farms-1d

The dairy was closed in the mid-1960s and the hospital itself shut down in 1997. Five years later, the hospital was renovated and occupied by the new California State University, Channel Islands and in 2009 the university bought the 367-acre parcel of land that included the abandoned dairy farm.

dairy-farms-1f

Now known as the CSU Channel Islands University Park, the land is open for public use though the Scary Dairy is fenced off – not that this has stopped graffiti artists from making their marks. Flickr user Thomas Hawk visited the Scary Dairy in June of 2011, taking these and many more spectacular and spooky photos.

Boom To Bust

dairy-farms-2a

Here’s the Sinton Office of the Red Canon Dairy in Cañon City, Colorado. Flickr user jimsawthat‘s photo captures the well-worn aura of a business with deep roots going back many decades. The photographer captured the above image on December 26th of 2014.

No Milk Today

dairy-farms-3b

dairy-farms-3a

dairy-farms-3c

dairy-farms-3d

Flickr user David Benjamin visited an abandoned dairy farm in early May of 2013, and although he doesn’t give any hints as to where this gently decaying farm is located, that’s just as well: not everything needs embellishment with graffiti.

Southburied

dairy-farms-11a

dairy-farms-11b

The Southbury Training School in Southbury, Connecticut opened in 1940 and stopped accepting new mentally-challenged “students” in 1986. The facility has operated in a sort of weird limbo since then: in 2001 there were 639 residents (down from 1,111 in 1986). At that time the average age was 55 and the average resident had been at STS for 43 years.

dairy-farms-11c

dairy-farms-11d

dairy-farms-11e

The school’s on-site dairy farm was closed in the late 1990s with the last 101 cows sold off to a local farmer in 2003. Urbex explorer infraredrobert visited STS in March of 2015, where he snapped the photos above and more.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Spilt Milk 12 Udderly Abandoned Dairies Dairy Farms

Share on Facebook





[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Spilt Milk: 12 Udderly Abandoned Dairies & Dairy Farms

Posted in Creativity

 

Off-Grid & Self-Sufficient: ReGen Villages with Vertical Farms

23 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

vertical farming

Presented at the 2016 Venice Architecture Bienalle, these new communities are designed to be entirely self-reliant, recycling their own waste, generating their own energy and producing their own food.

design village

integrated greenhouse

Dubbed ReGen by its creators at EFFEKT, this new self-sustaining community typology grew out of a Stanford University Paper and, thanks to the backing of entrepreneurs, the first pilot is set to launch in The Netherlands this summer with others coming to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and, eventually, China and Africa.

regen community

regen model

Each village features combinations of homes, greenhouses and public buildings, interconnecting vertical farming efforts with everyday living. Like a dome-free version of some science-fiction vision, the idea is that each village unit is effectively self-contained, able to thrive off the grid without polluting or draining resources.

program

regent model

modular architecture

Integrated solar power systems provide energy for heating, cooling and electric cars. Community participants share responsibility for water and waste management systems. Various housing types are offered, each with modularity designed around seasonal energy savings and human comfort factors.

green village square

town at night

“Our modern lifestyle is utterly unsustainable and this calls for more resilient solutions for the future,” explained EFFEKT partner Sinus Lynge. “The technology already exists, it is just a matter of applying science into the architecture of everyday life. ReGen Villages is engineering and facilitating the development of off-grid, integrated and resilient neighbourhoods that power and feed self-reliant families around the world. The time has come to redefine residential real-estate development for the next three billion people coming to the planet.”

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Off-Grid & Self-Sufficient: ReGen Villages with Vertical Farms

Posted in Creativity

 

Ghostly Floating Farms: Abandoned Rural Buildings of Russia

02 Jan

[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned farm building ukraine

The former USSR boasts some of the world’s weirdest and most hauntingly beautiful abandoned structures, from sci-fi monuments to prison camps and military facilities. Many of Russia’s abandoned wonders are byproducts of the Soviet collapse, including remote stretches of countryside that are no longer feasible to live in due to ill-kept or destroyed roads and infrastructure. Some of the structures that can be found there include intricate hand-carved wooden farmhouses and agricultural buildings that seem to hover in midair.

19th Century Farmhouses in Kostroma
abandoned farmhouse russia 1

abandoned farmhouse russia 5

abandoned farmhouse russia 2

abandoned farmhouse russia 3

abandoned farmhouse russia 4

abandoned wooden farmhouse

abandoned wooden farmhouse 2

These stunning examples of 19th century Russian architectural craftsmanship have sadly fallen into disrepair on the inside, but the exteriors generally look as cool as ever. Some are in better condition than others, looking as if they’re just waiting for their owners to return. Located deep within the forests of Kostroma, the abandoned family homes are likely too far from civilization to support most present-day occupants. Photographer Andrew Qzmn travels through the countryside documenting these forgotten structures, as well as those that are still kept up.

Floating Farm Building, Ukraine
abandoned farm building ukraine
floating potato 2

floating potato

Reportedly located in Ukraine rather than Russia, this farm building might seem like a Photoshop job at first, but a few pictures sent into the blog Curious Places confirm it to be part of a potato sorting facility, with speculation that part of it may have been dismantled since it was actively in use.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Ghostly Floating Farms Abandoned Rural Buildings Of Russia

Share on Facebook





[ By Steph in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Ghostly Floating Farms: Abandoned Rural Buildings of Russia

Posted in Creativity

 

Fortified Farms: In the Svanti Mountains Every Home is a Castle

06 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

georgia castle homes

Facing threats from all sides, the Svans of Georgia became highland gatekeepers of their mountain passes, each distributed dwelling turned into a individually defensible structure.

georgia defensible mountain homes

georgia sveti farm estate

Spread out across mountainous terrain difficult to encompass with conventional fortifications, many of these ruggedized farmhouses date back over 1,000 years. Some more expansive estates are surrounded by walls with a central tower, while in other more modest homes towers simply jut up from the core structures.

georgia mountains landscape

georgia world heritage site

The history of the Sveti region, with its distinct culture and language, was shaped by strife. “Life was never easy in high Caucasus. Nomads from northern steppes eager to get their hands on the riches of Mesopotamia, and Empires battling for supremacy — Assyrians, Macedonians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Turks, and Mongols — all clashed with fearless locals. The list of invading armies is nearly endless.”

georgia fortified farm towers

As a result of these pressing threats, houses were built to withstand invading (or passing) forces, protecting people, farm animals and other valuables. Rather than retreating behind walls or to a central keep, war-weary residents would simply bar their autonomous semi-castles. Today, many of the distinctive towers that mark the area are still incorporated into the everyday lives of inhabitants. The hundreds of towers that still remain to this day are now protected as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Photos via Wikimedia and by Susan,  deguonis, jan-one and Martijn.Munneke.

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Fortified Farms: In the Svanti Mountains Every Home is a Castle

Posted in Creativity

 

Floating Farms: Agricultural Barges to Yield 10 Tons Per Year

28 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

offshore farm barges

Powered by solar-paneled roofs overhead, these barge farms feature hydroponic space for produce above and support fish farming below, using extant technologies to offshore vast quantities of food to be grown on the water.

floating modular barge farms

Based in Barcelona, Forward Thinking Architecture is pushing its Smart Floating Farms concept to interested cities and investors, boasting the modularity of this system that can start with a single barge or morph into a fleet of connected vessels. Each barge is designed to yield over 8 tons of fruits and vegetables and nearly 2 tons of fish per year.

floating farm yield chart

The barges would be 656 by 1,150 feet and contain its own desalination plant, able to turn saltwater to fresh for farming purposes. Solar, wind and wave power render each platform self-sufficient in terms of energy as well as relatively independent, needing little human interaction or intervention to function.

floating high yield farm

While there is no set date for launching the first of these floating farms, the feasibility of the system is promising. It does not presuppose any technology that does not already exist, and represents a natural expansion of development beyond land to adjacent open spaces on the water.

barge farm interior fish

From the architects: “The world population is predicted to grow from 6.9 billion in 2010 to 8.3 billion in 2030 and to 9.1 billion in 2050. By 2030, food demand is predicted to increase by 50% (70% by 2050). The main challenge facing the agricultural sector is not so much growing 70% more food in 40 years, but making 70% more food available on the plate.”

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on Floating Farms: Agricultural Barges to Yield 10 Tons Per Year

Posted in Creativity

 

PlantLab: Urban Farms 40 Times More Productive than Open Fields

03 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

indoor farm vertical design

A Dutch firm on the cutting edge of indoor agriculture estimates that producing food for the entire world could take place in a space far smaller than the area occupied by Holland, using just 10% of the water needed by traditional farms. The proposal is not without precedent – Japan already has one prototype urban farm that is 100 times more productive than farmers’ fields.

indoor farm red light

indoor farm closeup

Noting that the vast majority of people will live in cities in the coming decades, PlantLab suggests a solution that involves using existing basements and purpose-built structures for our future food production. This means less energy, space, time and water than conventional methods.

indoor farm hallways

indoor farm plant lab

Urban farming in controlled environments lets growers take full advantage of variables like custom lighting, using far-red LED lamps that reduce moisture requirements for plants. Naturally, interior spaces are also free from the uncontrolled variables of weather and pests as well, increasingly reliability.

indoor urban agriculture industry

indoor farm vertical buildings

Automatic systems can optimize yields based on crop types, making indoor farms more effective than greenhouses and far more productive than fields. The ever-increasing efficiency and lowering costs of LEDs mean this method will only become more viable over time.

Share on Facebook





[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]


WebUrbanist

 
Comments Off on PlantLab: Urban Farms 40 Times More Productive than Open Fields

Posted in Creativity