The world population is increasing and also the need for food. German students of the master degree in town ecology study developed as part of the study project "Resourcing Space" an idea for innovative agriculture. They planned a kind of plant-flat, an enormous glasshouse consisting of a number of floors, occupying a ground area of one HA, which, however, offers a useful area of 13 HA.
In order to establish whether vertical agriculture could become a reality the students split up in groups. They studied professional literature, interviewed experts, visited exhibitions, requested information from botanic gardens, researched the internet, telephoned engineers and looked at the experiences of existing sky-farms in South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. A group visited a potential stand and arrived at the airport area in Berlin-Tegel, where after close-down a research and industrial park for future technologies must arise. Other developed the architecture or drew up building and expense planning.
Lydia Paetsch, one of the students, says: "We would be able to grow either 60 to 80 tons of vanilla or 5,000 tons of tomatoes annually. Another alternative was to grow 2,4 million chrysanthemums." Finally she choose together with fellow students for tomatoes, as those are the most profitable. The tomatoes would cost
euro 2,18/kg.