AeroVita

Project idea

This project is located in Jeziret Ad Dahab, a place front-facing the Nile, with very fertile lands theoretically optimal for farming. Currently, There is a food shortage that has been increasing in severity for the last decade. fruits have become a luxury, vegetable diversity has been lessening, and the existing plants no longer produce as much, the situation has been exacerbated with the forced urbanization that has been happening to the area. In the pursuit of tourist buildings, front-view, Nile-facing agricultural farm lands are being repossessed. To force the farmers into giving their land, water prices, fertilizer prices, and pesticide prices have skyrocketed. Due to increasing prices , where the fertilizer & pesticide prices soared 200% of their original prices , farmers had to resort to organic alternatives that were not viable for the soil after the usage of chemicals for decades, leading to the soil fertility decreasing dramatically, with parasites like black cutworms and weeds like dodders overtaking the place, ruining their crop and requiring a soil recovery period. The new buildings added traffic to the area, forcing the construction of several new roads, bridges and connections, skyrocketing the carbon dioxide emissions into dangerous amounts engulfing the whole area in a thick cloud of smog. This project aims to turn these undesirable factors into opportunities for the city's revival and food security.

Project description

AeroVita offers a hope through aeroponics, where farming can be made in pods , without soil, fertilizers, pesticides and 90% less water. This type of farming would allow 4x more food output, that is independent of season change, with 1/10 of the space and 1/5 of the time needed, allowing the majority of the community, farmers, to engage in the project, and continue their profession. Through specialized towers, the vision-obscuring smog can be turned into nutrient solution to feed these pods, in a Renzo piano-inspired pipe system going through the project, allowing for a transparent experience between the users and the building. The form of the building is inspired by the natural hills to allow for seamless integration with the surroundings, with the interior designed to have the users go through a specific sequence of events, similar to a story-telling experience to learn about the functions going inside, as well as promote active engagement through the inner court. The towers are strategically placed to ensure maximum coverage and smog-absorption, as well as provide external shaded rest areas for users.

Technical information

The building is made of a steel space frame structure, with reinforced concrete panels providing the cladding. There is a lightweight grid structure to allow for plants growth on top of the cladding. The "aero pods" are made of steel structures with compartments for nutrient solution storing and a PVC pipe system for distribution. The towers are made of duo-layers, the inner being steel, and the outer a metal-organic framework (MOF), to allow for passive smog absorption, till it reaches underground collection nodes where it is turned into a nutrient solution.