Urbanization has become an increasingly critical issue as “50 percent of the world population lives in urban areas and is predicted to continue growing to 70 percent by 2050”. Said Dr. Dickson Despommier. “Almost 70% of the world’s fresh water reserves are used for agriculture. And, nearly 40% of the Earth’s total landmass is now being used to support soil-based farming, with over 80% of the world’s land available for agriculture now in use”, Said Kubala Washatko. So for this it is need to grow soilless and vertically. Vertical farms are multi-storey buildings with controlled environmental conditions and that houses year-round crop production by using hydroponics. The proposed vertical farm is to be powered by solar and wind energy to mitigate the required high-energy consumption of the controlled internal environment. With this, feasibility and form of the prototype vertical farm has been explored in this thesis which can penetrate maximum sun light in to it. The method that has been adopted for this thesis research included three case studies that are Pasona HQ, Japan. Agro-Housing, Wuhan, China. Hydroponic greenhouse USA. Surveys carried out in hydroponic farms focusing on different functions and areas for a deeper understanding of spaces. Interviews were conducted with the expert Agronomist and architects which facilitated in realizing feasibility of prototype at Tando jam and how the prototype hydroponic vertical farm will function. Internet research was conducted for the purpose of why as there a requirement of vertical farms, what type of spaces were essential, an understanding of type of function and physical parameters that will effect on farming. Online shadow calculator (Gaisma) had used for solar energy to calculate the behavior of proposed form in summer and winter solstices. Report of Pakistan Metrology Department has studied to find out wind potential at Tando jam. Literature were reviewed to understand the current situation of hydroponic farming in Pakistan and what work and techniques had been adopted internationally for vertical farming, SketchUp and other software’s were used to test render of form for the prototype vertical farm. By all these research it was found that it has potential in vertical farming by nearer future of Pakistan and some like hexagon form having inclined south facades at angle of 60 degree can penetrate maximum sun light in to it and is most appropriate proposed prototype form of vertical farm. Combination of alternate concav
INTRODUCTION As the world’s population increases, it is estimate that about 50% of the entire earth’s population is living in cities. NASA estimates that for this 7 billion people in order to C-1
be fed (half urban half rural) would need to produce their food every year. By 2050 it is predicted that the world’s population will have grown to 9.5 billion people, necessitating the cultivation of another 2.1 billion acres of land. So developing farmable land will be a challenge in urban areas. Urban farming is growing crops on the ground in or around a community in vacant lots or green space in this scope. One option is to farm vertically instead of horizontally. Dense urban centres would have multi-storeys buildings with floor atop the floor of fruits and vegetables grown in highly environmentally efficient ways, such as hydroponic and Aeroponics in vertical farms, it is cultivating plant life within a skyscraper greenhouse or on vertically inclined surfaces. The modern idea of vertical farming uses techniques similar to glass houses, where natural sunlight can be augmented with artificial lighting.
CONCEPT Vertical farms are multi-storey buildings with controlled environmental conditions and access that house year-round crop production in artificial environments by using hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics. All food is grown organically without herbicides or pesticides, and black and greywater is collected and recycled. The vertical farm is powered by solar and wind energy to balance out the high-energy consumption the internal environment requires. “Basically, inside the system, every day is a summer day without a cloud in the sky,� -Says Vandecruys. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done"? -Dr. Dickson Despommier
SCOPE Vertical farming can involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping, and horticulture. Vertical farming included both soilless and soil base farming. In soil less farming hydroponic, aeroponics is used. In this study of research C-2
hydroponic vertical farming will be taken in concern and form of the hydroponic vertical farm will be explore at Tando jam Hyderabad. The most focus of the research will be on natural resources of sunlight. Form for Prototype hydroponic farm has to be explored, furthermore the vegetable to grow will tomato and lettuce as it has vast research on these vegetables.
OBJECTIVES
To design a vertical farm building that meets the vision of urban farming
To develop innovative and original solutions that incorporate environmentally, friendly and efficient features into the design.
To provide a cost efficient system that can be easily adapted to other locations in the country.
To present a solution that integrates all of the building’s systems into a fully functional vertical farm and harvesting space.
To
optimize
all
major
high
performance
attributes
of
the
building including energy conservation, safety, structural and material durability, accessibility, cost efficiency, growing productivity, sustainability and functionality.
ADVANTAGES Dickson Despommier has been spreading the seeds of his radical idea. 1. Year-round crop production 2. No weather-related crop failures 3. Eliminates agricultural 4. No agricultural runoff 5. No us of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers 6. Use of 70-95 percent less water 7. Greatly reduced food miles 8. More control of food safety and security 9. New employment opportunities 10. Purification of grey water to drinking water - D. Despommier.
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Vertical cultivated farming will be a very important part of the community in the not too distant future, the earth is becoming in more need of resources to feed the billions of masses of people that are living on the planet. If cultivated land footprints are becoming smaller due to growth of cities, vertical farming has to be introduced to cover the needs of the population. Vertical farm has to be completely made with advanced technology such as artificial lighting system, hydroponic system and efficient farming management in the urban areas. By collecting of all these qualities the vertical farming may developed in the well-organized farm and it gains the high amount yielding in the agriculture. The architecture of vertical farming is concern with different sections that there are energy management, water management it also known as hydroponics, cropping method and harvesting manner etc. The vertical farming architecture is also depended on the construction oriented process, where it takes the complex situation some times that there enough sunlight radiation has to pass on all crops of the plants for the healthy growth. So the need of finding appropriate form for vertical farm is essential.
HYDROPONICS FARMING Many countries are running ecological deficit with ecological footprints far greater than their biological capacity. The consequences of ecological deficit, in various regions of the world, can be leading towards the resource loss, ecological collapse, environmental imbalance, poverty, debt, famine and sometimes, even, war.
SUSTAINABLE METHODS To sustainably feed the world’s growing population, methods for growing food have to evolve. In case evolution, different techniques have been studied to improve the traditional methods. Hydroponics and Aeroponics are two such techniques by which plants can be grown without soil. 
Agriculture scientists said there are two main types of hydroponics culture, namely 1. Solution culture. 2. Medium culture
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HYDROPONICS Gerick defined hydroponics as “Plant growth in mineral nutrition solutions.” Hydroponics is the art of soilless agriculture in which growing of plants in a soil less medium, or an aquatic based environment. After doing a research into the issue of hydroponic farming vs soil-grown farming, it has simply affirmed that hydroponic method of vertical farming is very much appropriate method of providing food to the world. So we need to go vertically and find the solution in vertical.
HYDROPONIC SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE Hydroponics is easy and simple way to grow plants, considered by many more advantageous than the cultivation in soil because it make possible to give plants maximum levels of the exact nutrients they need. Precise control of nutrient uptake allows reap higher yields faster. East Asia, Spain and Israel have increased the implementation of hydroponic farm, while NASA has developed a research program for a system hydroponic food production to be used in space missions.
SKY IS THE LIMIT “There are other challenges to overcome before the farms become a viable alternative food source. Scientists are determining the optimum light wavelength for growing each kind of plant.”-Choi said Team member Lee Hye-Jin said they need more time. “It might take at least five more years of research to make progress on these obstacles. Then vertical farms might be ready for commercial use,” she said. The South Korean scientists say that once these problems are resolved, vertical farms won't just have to stop at three-stories. The sky is the limit.
DATA ANALYSIS OF PROTOTYPE VERTICAL FARMING The course of the Indus River never stays the same and over thousands of years it has gradually shifted. Additionally, the Indus Delta has been continuously growing, thereby
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increasing the cultivable land. Currently, 40% of the land in Sindh is arable and 5% is rangeland. The total cultivated area of Sindh is 5.88 million hectares and the total cropped area is 3.10 million hectares. So for the hottest day of the year (June 22) and the coldest day of the year (Dec 22). According to the Association for Vertical Farming. “The vertical farming industry, which practices growing food inside buildings or greenhouses, is likely to triple in size by 2017�,
DESIGN POTENTIAL The resources used in this prototype vertical farming system where the windmill is used to generate electricity for the water pumping system, also these windmills are kept at the top of the farm where together air source and other energy resources are added. Additionally such as solar energy for the purpose of generating the artificial light source to the crops for the high yielding. The vertical farming requires the water harvesting, hydroponics technique, fade type of glasses and suitable architecture structure to the vertical farming in the way of designing potentially.
ECONOMIC VIABILITY The conclusions of insights into the economic viability of a new CEA system producing hydroponic lettuce by gunes ilaslan, Gerald b. White, & Robert w. Langhans study indicated that southern and southwestern areas have a cost advantage in the production of controlled environment agriculture hydroponic lettuce. The cities of Miami, Raleigh, and St. Louis had the lowest per unit production costs because of higher natural light condition, relatively low heating requirements, and labour costs
CROPS GROWING FLOORS, FORM AND FUNCTION Technology within the vertical farm would be similar to the principles of Maximum yield and High rise crops. For example, an automated conveyor would be used to move the plants from one floor to the other while the plants grow from seedling to mature and reach the harvester at other. Along the way, water and lighting could be optimized for each growth stage. To add additional efficiency, plants could be stacked in layers on each floor, using existing hydroponic growing technology
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BUILDING DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM LIGHT EFFICIENCY The building architecture itself would be optimized for maximum light efficiency. Windows and rooftops has been designed to get the most out of the sun according to seasonal variation, summer, winter, spring and fall in temperate regions. However, additional lighting would be required, preferably some form of LED lighting as this technology is advancing rapidly. Concave and Convex mirror alternative combination has been used in the building to penetrate light in to the building.
SMEDA REPORT ON FEASIBILITY OF HYDROPONIC Agricultural development program funded about PRs. 4,767.36 million in which government share PRs. 3,475.00 million through kissan package and farmer’s contributed 1,292.36 million for promotion of high technology agricultural farming in Pakistan for (2016-17 to 2018-19).
LIGHTING IN VERTICAL FARM All daylighting strategies make use of the luminance distribution from the sun, sky, buildings, and ground. Daylight strategies depend on the availability of natural light, which is determined by the latitude of the building site and the conditions immediately surrounding the building, e.g., the presence of obstructions. Daylighting strategies are also affected by climate; thus, the identification of seasonal, prevailing climate conditions, particularly ambient temperatures and sunshine probability, is a basic step in daylight design. Studying both climate and daylight availability at a construction site is key to understanding the operating conditions of the building’s façade.
SUN LIGHT SYSTEM A network of reflectors on every floor to utilize maximum sunlight during day time and also can be used for light during night by using led. Network of side reflector consist of reflecting panels placed around periphery of the building. At the ceiling of each floor a network of concave shaped reflectors are arranged so as to reflect the rays received by the side reflectors to the plants as in.
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BUILDING FAÇADE The building façade exterior panelling system, glazing represented a major aspect of the building’s façade design. All of the harvesting space, composing a majority of the building’s floor area, is covered by Glass a double-pane low emissivity coating glass. Low emissivity coating, has a very thin microscopically transparent layer of metallic particles that allow the glass to filter light wavelengths and heat. Also, due to its low emissivity properties, the glass reflects the heat back. Therefore, during the winter when the interior heat of the space tries to escape to the colder outside, the heat is reflected back to the inside and the heat loss reduced. Meanwhile in the summer, it reflects the solar heat, helping to keep the interior cooler.
ADVANTAGE OF GLASS PASSES SUN LIGHT Plant can perform photosynthesis behind a window as long as there is enough light that reaches the leaves of that plant. Only UV rays are decreased when passes through glass. UV rays are not required, but rather it is best avoided. Since UV rays come in a form of radiation and is harmful to organic tissues, causing an abnormal aging to human tissues, which would also be true to plant tissues. This is the reason behind the construction of Greenhouses, which roofs are made of translucent to transparent materials, most polyethylene films, to block most of the UV rays while still letting light in.
FORM FOR VERTICAL FARM In a world newly concerned about carbon emissions, global warming, and sustainable design, the planned use of natural light in non-residential buildings has become an important strategy to improve energy efficiency by minimizing lighting, heating, and cooling loads. The introduction of innovative, advanced daylighting strategies and systems can considerably reduce a building’s electricity consumption and also significantly improve the quality of light in an indoor environment.
FORM OF BUILDING For this if maximum sun light is need to penetrate in building each roof slab should drag toward North Pole while moving upward, so that the south faces of the building can allow maximum light in the building. The slab model of this shape was created in C-8
such a way that south faces may have angle of 60 degree as can be somehow perpendicular to sunlight in both solstices. This was also then tested through sketchUp by google f confirmation of changes. It was observed that this dragged slab of hexagon may penetrate good light in it. Building form was then created, by making north side straight for other functions of the building and for generating a building structural form. Response of sunlight throughout the day was read at @12:00 pm in all four seasons (In Dec, June, March and sept).
ARCHITECTURAL SPACES One of the most important project requirements is to keep total growing spaces bigger than the ground one. A vertical farm is a building type for which there are very few real world examples of floor plans. In vertical design spaces will be in such a way that providing less and less public access in the building as it approached the top, as well as of placing complementary spaces adjacent to one another on the same floor. This method provides occupants with an easy to follow path from activity to activity. Major distribution of spaces will to constrain the original six to eight floors. On the top six to eight floors it will have vegetable growing area and ground or plus one may have market and serves as the business floor for the Growing Power offices, which includes general office spaces, a staff lounge, a director’s office, a meeting room and a central reception area. One floor may serve as research and education centre. Basement may will have storages, parking, and water treatment, solar & wind energy operator Rooms etc. With this north spaces of the building may will have technical and other services. Other finding can be seen in presentation
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