Temporary Urban Farming Greenhouse Infrastructure

Human survival depends on farming and nutrition, but what happens if people can no longer access farmland? One of the most unsustainable industries in the world today is agriculture. Emissions from farming were estimated to have contributed 16.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gt CO₂eq) to global warming in 2022 alone. Fresh food and farmland are frequently extremely scarce in war-torn nations. In addition to war displacing communities and destroying infrastructure, conflict also contaminates farmland, making it unfit for agriculture. Additionally, it destroys ancestral lands and people's jobs. My solution is Temporary Urban Farming Infrastructure, which helps people with access to fresh food and income. People in rural areas, refugee camps and warzones could all benefit from this strategy. Globally, urban farming (the process of cultivating food in cities or suburban areas) is already being used as a sustainable substitute for conventional farming. Urban gardening maximises space and resources, increasing the efficiency and accessibility of food production. It can also be applied on repurposed land or open fields. According to Worldmetrics; In Tokyo, community (urban) gardens have helped increase green space per capita by 20%, improving air quality and community health.

Here's a link to more information about Urban Gardening and it's positive sustainable impact (For anyone interested): Link

1. Fusion 360
2. FlashForge

A part of design is doing thorough research, especially when dealing with problems like a lack of temporary infrastructure. My research is a combination of secondary and primary research, focusing on user experience. I like to start my research by looking at current existing products (and common problems with them) so I can understand and develop ideas about good/bad features of the products. When dealing with user-centred design (an iterative design process which addresses the whole user experience), looking at qualitative and quantitative data helps us develop ideas about the user's needs and helps us form design specifications. The formation of design specifications helps us develop a solution. I interviewed the urban gardeners at my school and researched the needs of urban gardens (user research). The basic requirements of an urban garden are access to sunlight, water and good quality soil. It's also extremely important for urban gardens to have biodiversity in plants and the surrounding environment. Traditionally, greenhouses are designed with a triangular-shaped roof to maximise light efficiency and air ventilation, which are all things necessary for plants to thrive. I need to make a design incorporating all of these elements while designing it to be disassembled.

So there are two components to successful urban gardening, infrastructure and the Garden Beds. Since both components need to be temporary, we need to design them for disassembly. That means the infrastructure is designed to be taken apart easily.

Environment: Urban Cities or Outdoor Environments

The temporary urban garden infrastructure is designed for outdoor environments/urban areas with firm ground for peg or stake insertion. Scientifically “firm ground” means a substrate with adequate shear strength and cohesion to allow for reliable anchorage through common methods like tent pegs/stake/pole/post

Physical + Environmental Factors: Integrated Design for Biodiversity

The core design principle is to have a strong connection to the outside environment and to promote biodiversity. This means the infrastructure shouldn’t just be in its surroundings but be part of them.

User: Urban Gardeners

The primary users are individuals and communities looking for urban gardens for fresh food, this is a broad demographic. The infrastructure must be user friendly for all levels of gardening experience, cognitive ability and physical limitations.

Tasks: Criteria For my project + Function:

Connect to the Outside World: This is more than just looking pretty. The design must make the most of natural light and air flow, potentially using passive systems for water harvesting or temperature control. It should fit in with the urban landscape, be visually pleasing and welcoming and enhance the surrounding environment.

Biodiversity: Beyond just housing plants the infrastructure must actively promote ecological diversity. This means designing in elements that support the wider urban ecosystem, such as tiered planting for different root systems, integrated water features for birds and insects or designated areas for insect attracting plants.

Growing Produce: This is the main functional requirement. The design must optimise conditions for plant growth, considering factors like soil depth for root growth, drainage, sun exposure and protection from urban pollutants or pests. The structure must support growing produce.

Temporary Infrastructure: This defines its lifespan and key design constraints. It must be designed for quick deployment and removal, with modular components, minimal ground disturbance and easy assembly/disassembly. Its temporality means it must be reusable and adaptable, able to be moved to different sites or stored efficiently when not in use. This means a focus on lightweight, durable and interlocking components that can withstand repeated setup and breakdown. It also can be taken apart and reused (Circular Lifecycle)

I made the moodboard on Pinterest. Some catalysts of creativity which inspired me while making this board were the biomorphism and biomimicry of flowers and how they open and close when they bloom and die. I was also inspired by the shape of greenhouses and how greenhouses become a part of their external environment and interact with their environment. I was really inspired by specific textures like glass because of its openness and connection with nature, rattan, and wood. I liked that they all come from nature.

Explaining my idea:

My idea is a square-based pyramid whose sides can open and close based on the user's preferences. It can open and close based on a sort of reverse tent situation. The top of the triangles will have holes with ropes in them which, when tied to the central pole, can make the infrastructure open and close (like the triangle planes are expanding/opening/closing). It encourages interaction with the outside environment and airflow because the garden can be opened up based on whatever works for the user. The entire design is designed to be disassembled, with the parts being able to be taken apart, making it temporary. The pole is in the centre and removable, the glass panes are only screwed on, and the rope is removable. All the parts of the infrastructure can be disassembled after use and recycled/reused, which extends the life cycle of the parts, improves sustainability and makes it temporary. I also designed a garden bed to go inside which is able to be disassembled and reused. The entire design is cradle to cradle, promoting a circular economy and green design.

^ Formal Drawings + CAD process

Urban Garden Bed: The beds have slots in them to slot it into the racks. The racks are also split into two halves so users can customise how many beds are being stacked. This increases comfort for the users

Temporary Infrastructure: I didn't add the rope mechanism, because I knew it would look confusing, and I'm modelling the rope mechanism through my physical model

The exploded diagram helps display the temporary component of my design by showing how it's disassembled. I also included two videos:

1. The first one shows how the gardening bed is taken apart, and how all the parts connect together
2. The second one is an exploded animation of the infrastructure, but also shows the function of the infrastructure (how it opens and closes)

The animation displays the assembly and disassembly of the temporary infrastructure and garden bed, and I made it in fusion.

I scaled down my fusion file and then 3D printed the gardening beds, and then I attempted to 3D print the racks but they were too thin, so I subbed them out for dowels. This is just a low fidelity model to represent the size of the gardening beds in comparison with the infrastructure, so it was okay the physical model didn't represent all the true functions of the gardening beds. The garden beds are designed for disassembly, making them temporary and easy to take apart which obviously is not reflected in this physical model, so it's just a low fidelity model for scale understanding.

Scale Ratio:

True Size/Baseline Model : Physical Prototype/Model

44.13478173879271 : 1

I created my physical model by laser cutting sheets of Acrylic (PMMA), from an exported DXF file. I scaled down the measurements from my fusion file by the same scale as my gardening beds, and then I laser cut it. I also added a cutout in one of the planes for a door area. Then I drilled holes in the tops of every single triangle plane (Orange Acrylic), 20mm down from the tip of the triangle plane, and I used the drill bit with a diameter of 3mm. I then scored out the middle of the base plate (Red Acrylic), and I used the drill bit with a diameter of 6mm. I also took a dowel with a radius of 6mm to put in the middle of the base plate, and I cut it down to fit in the pyramid infrastructure. I strung strings through the holes and double knotted it on both ends.

Scale Ratio:

True Size/Baseline Model : Physical Prototype/Model

44.13478173879271 : 1

Some criteria I used to assess the effectiveness of my proposal included its functionality, compatibility with the model of the urban gardening beds, and proper operation of the window panes. It was a success since my theory and plan for opening the window panes with rope worked. I ran several tests on the model to ensure that it functioned in every scenario, including closing and opening the planes and setting them at a random angle using the rope tension, and they all worked. I initially believed it was a better idea to use elastic ropes because of elastic potential energy, but after conducting those tests with the elastic bands, I found it didn't function as smoothly as I had hoped, so I changed the ropes with regular thread. This is all part of an iterative design cycle, which is critical to design development because design must be updated on a regular basis in order to perform properly.

My physical model of the infrastructure was an integral part to demonstrating the function of the greenhouse.

The pink and blue land represent any material surface, such as soil, which is what the rivets are stuck into

The rivets represent general poles which are tied to the string

The mechanism works as sort of a reverse tent situation if that makes sense

My physical model works and is medium fidelity, it's meant to mimic the function of the planes and the structure as a whole.

I had to compress the videos so the quality isn't the best, so I also linked them in this folder: Folder

One of my most important design considerations was to make my design minimal, with only a few components that all work together to function. A design with fewer components is also easy to disassemble. Each component of my design adds to the overall practicality, beauty, and sustainability of my temporary design. The planes, entrance, pole, base, and gardening beds are examples of components that contribute to functioning. They all work together to keep a biodiverse urban garden, open the glass pane for connection with the environment, and be simple to deconstruct. The materials and the concept help to ensure sustainability. The materials derived from repurposed wood pallets help to create a cyclic, cradle-to-cradle cycle. The design for the disassembly approach allows my components to be easily disassembled and reassembled, making the components recyclable when the infrastructure becomes obsolete and contributing to the materials/components' circular lifecycle.

Recycled Wood Pallets:

Wood Pallets are recycled and reused, contributing to a circular economy. Reusing Euro Pallets/Wood Pallets contributes to waste reduction, climate protection and resource conservation. A lot of pallets are thrown away after 1 use, because they can't be used twice to hold stuff, contributing to a large percentage of Pallets being sent to landfill. It's a good fit for a good to a greenhouse because it's durable enough for that function. They're also built to be strong and sturdy, which is good for supporting the weight of glass panels.

Polycarbonate Panels:

Polycarbonate panels have many benefits for greenhouses, impact resistance, good light transmission and good insulation. Not like glass, they are light and unbreakable, safer and easier to install. Their durability means less replacement over time and less waste. Polycarbonate is recyclable and many manufacturers use partially recycled content. They also keep temperatures inside greenhouses constant, so less need for artificial heating and less energy consumption. Practical and eco friendly for sustainable building.