Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Urban Underground Farming (Japan)




Pasona O2

An underground urban farming facility in Japan originally created for the sake of providing employment opportunities for Japanese citizens. However, the project has definitely grown to focus more on urban farming using artificial lighting. The whole facility is divided into 6 different sections, dedicated for different types of produce/plantations- flower field, herb field, rice field (second image), fruit & vegetable field, vegetable field, and seeding room (top image).

Eventhough this idea is quite different from the focus of my project, it's still a very inspiring concept. :)

One thing that concerned me was the fact that an extensive amount of artificial lighting was required to put into the project in order to maintain growth. On the note of sustainability, this will end up consuming too much energy.

"In the absence of sunlight, the plants are sustained by artificial light from light-emitting diodes, metal halide lamps, and high-pressure sodium vapor lamps. The temperature of the room is controlled by computer, and the vegetables are grown by a pesticide-free method in which fertilizer and carbon dioxide are delivered by spraying. Hydroponics, in which plants are grown in water and hardly any soil is used, is one of the methods of cultivation used in the facility."

The article on this urban farming facility can be found HERE.

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