A Utopian Vision for Metabolic Cities: The Future of Farmscraping in New York City

Abstract

This thesis turns to radical architecture for drawing visionary solutions to future problems. An issue that faces cities in the not-so-distant future is access to food. Compared to other industries, farming lags in technological advancement, making current farming practices unable to keep up with the demands of a growing population. As urbanization increases, arable land becomes scarce; therefore, the thesis argues for vertical farming in skyscrapers to make room for agriculture within cities. For cities to sustain the demands of their growing population, they must develop an urban farming system capable of expansion, making Metabolism an appropriate framework for designing this flexible system. New York City acts as the prototype for future cities; being the densest American metropolitan area, the issue of feeding its growing population is a dilemma the city is currently facing. Therefore, the farmscraper typology offers a potential solution for feeding the city.