City as a Food Forest: Urban Agricultural Interventions in the Urban Environment

Increases in urban density, the need for lower carbon solutions and a developed understanding of the importance of nature in cities have highlighted the importance of indoor environments and the need to rethink food production methods. This research thesis seeks to question whether hydroponic indoor urban agriculture could be part of the solution. By developing effective architectural solutions for indoor urban agriculture, it explores the integration of indoor greenery as a union of the built and natural which offers opportunities for improvements in urban food supply and contributions to occupant wellbeing.

Existing research indicates that the benefits from plants in building interiors could be extensive and research in this area is still developing. This work established the potential effectiveness of food production within apartments through a comparative analysis of existing interior applications of urban agriculture, concluding that kitchen hydroponic systems may be the most effective solution for indoor growing of edible plants. The research has investigated the use of natural materials to facilitate exploring methods of making with ceramics to reduce material toxicity.

The work explores the integration of a functional model of food production into the interior realm of residential architecture. This is proposed through creating an architectural intervention to support urban agriculture, employ natural materials and integrate biophilic design.