YEAR: 2022.01

TYPE: Master´s Project – Sustainable Urban Landscape Course

UNIVERSITY: Lund University

LOCATION: Reykjavik – Iceland

TAGS: Urban Design | Food Production| Sustainability | Academic

Iceland is a small country with extreme climate conditions presenting powerful winds, snow and a lack of sun during the whole year, creating a challenging scenario to produce food locally. It is possible to conclude why Iceland imports half of the consumed food in its country.

In a place where the wind, the sun and the snow are some of the obstacles, there is a need to be creative and technological.

How can we grow food in extreme and unique climate conditions?

Considering that almost %50 of the food consumed in Iceland is imported from other countries, means that most of these products travel long distances by sea to reach the country.

Using vertical farming, using hydroponics and aquaponics combined with a unique type of greenhouse, developed in Iceland. Aiming to use these technologies to grow food vertically and using fish farmings to increase the food production of Iceland.

The design aims to work with urban farming, using the highest technology to increase food production even in extreme conditions. Through a simple process that combines the use of LED lights that imitate solar radiation to feed the plants and the use of sustainable energy from geothermal sources, it is possible to heat the greenhouses in the region, even without direct sunlight.

The main idea is to create an integration on a daily basis of Greenhouses technology with the living, producing food in unexpected places. Another aspect is to use the topography and the landscape to create a new usage of the underground floors, creating productive underground storeys where it is possible to grow food and level the ground floor entrances, creating an innovative way of living.

Food+ aims to create a unique community where people will be part of the food production system, exploring the public spaces with food-related activities (food university, food markets, food hall, fish markets, fish production, among others) and using the private buildings to combine the food production with living. Another essential concept is to create a sustainable and productive neighbourhood to serve as an example to transform Iceland into a food production country.