Wumart Jian Mu Tower in Shenzhen: world’s first Farmscraper by CRA-Carlo Ratti Association
Architecture Meets Agriculture in the Jian Mu Tower. The vertical farm is expected to produce 270,000 kilograms of crops every year, which is enough to feed 40,000 people.
Interview conducted by Skyla Baily
Jian Mu Tower: a project by CRA-Carlo Ratti Association
AZoBuild talks to Carlo Ratti, of Carlo Ratti Associati, about the firm’s ambitious plans to build the hydroponic Jian Mu Tower in Shenzhen.
Nov 2, 2021
(Must see video. Mike)
Excerpt:
We developed the vertical farm with a company called ZERO which specializes in innovative agricultural solutions. It applies the traditional system of robotic hydroponic farms to a vertical façade, where robotic pods move autonomously to place harvest trays with vegetables. There will also be a virtual agronomist which runs on artificial intelligence. It controls irrigation and assesses the health of the plants. Working together, these devices create a farming unit with high efficiency.
Hydroponic farming cultivates plants without soil. Instead, they absorb minerals and other necessary nutrients through liquid solutions. As mentioned, this task will be conducted automatically by robots at Jian Mu Tower.
The vertical farm is expected to produce 270,000 kilograms of crops every year, which is enough to feed 40,000 people.
Incorporating vegetation into skyscrapers is something we have had prior experience on, most notably through the soon-to-be-complete CapitaSpring in Singapore, which we co-designed with BIG. However, farming requires more precise environmental control.