Fresh research from The University of Queensland could help apartment dwellers enjoy a backyard garden in their own flat and a year-round harvest of fruit and vegetables.
UQ School of Architecture, Design and Planning PhD student Thi Thanh Nhan An is bridging the gap between architecture and agriculture with prototype garden systems that integrate urban farming and apartment design.
Her prototype gardens are a greenhouse, a semi-greenhouse and a vertically integrated indoor farm designed to fit inside a city apartment or on a balcony.
Crucially, An’s project is already bearing fruit.
“I cannot forget the moment when I opened the door and smelt the basil and saw the colour of the purple radish or the green lettuce under the light,” said An, describing an early foray into her prototype greenhouse.
“Hopefully everyone in the city can have their own farming space in their living space in the future.”
An’s prototypes are being constructed at the Brisbane head office of engineering firm and industry partner Fusion Modulair, a city where apartments and townhouses are increasingly replacing the traditional sprawling sections able to accommodate the classic post-war Aussie backyard gardens.
PhD supervisor Dr Silvia Micheli, a senior lecturer at UQ’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning, said much of An’s produce rivals anything grown outside.
Read the full article on UQ News.
