allows for a freedom of the surface (surfaces can be flat, angular or curved) as well as a freedom from the surface (since plumbing is the only necessary adhering element for plants grown in this way, straight, curved and spiraling gutters and tubes, and petri dishes filled with water and nutrients can be all that is needed). Students are asked to fully exploit the potential for extreme spacemaking and investigate these parameters in relation to topology. Site: The site is located in Istanbul, a compelling context for this program because of its ancient and documented history of urban farming. Many new organic farmers’ markets are popping up monthly and good food –always an integral part of traditional Turkish lifestyles—is front and center with a 21st century twist. FAX adds experimental farming to that --a relatively new focus and very much a work in progress. New techniques and strategies are tested, evaluated and improved to increase effectiveness and gain further insight. Students shall research these to generate their program specifics.
223 ADVANCED I Advanced I —ARCH 704 Design Studio—INTRODUCTION
This is a unique opportunity to explore and propose a new building type from scratch as the requirements of the program suggest a rethinking of urbanity and verticality in connection with agriculture, but inversely also a reimagining of agriculture that is not connected to the ground and grows without the presence of earth. Current designs for agri-tectures seldom rise to the occasion as they place new technologies into old design strategies. A survey of urban agriculture environments, however, points to the potential for an ambiance of surreal beauty where the absence of earth as an element of farming elevates the vegetable patch into a realm of precise abstraction. This un-soiled way of growing comes courtesy of hydroponics and constitutes the majority of urban farming activities. Freed from their connection to the ground, vegetables become objects of contemplation –design elements within larger spatial installations. In these new scenarios, farmers are curators of flora in 3D space. Topology: One of the tasks of the studio then is to consider the vegetables and fruits as occupants of the building in addition to people. The consequences are quite radical in that plants adapt to gravity in ways humans do not with the result of being able to grow in any orientation in space (–and even without gravity to hold them in place). Therefore the range of spatial definitions in this type is much broader than in humans-only environments. Plants typically have two points of orientation, gravity and the sun. What allows them a greater spectrum of spatial occupation is the greatly du to the fact the unlike humans, plants are “anchored” and thus hold on with their roots while adjusting to their orientation. Not only do plants grow in any direction but the hydroponic system also