Understanding the Working of Vertical Farming towards a Sustainable Community

We human kind  and as I include myself wants to gain maximum output with minimal amount of physical force which we first categorise as luxury and which eventually metamorphose into necessity. Now, to do the rest amount of work we have created a “helping hand” known in general terms as machine. This machine generally is formed out of nature and during its working harms it, the primitive form of it being wheel. With development of technologies these machines became an integral part of our life changing our lifestyle changing our built environment and at most changing our homes, work places and recreational areas. But somehow it did not affect the environment of our food production avenues. Our superstition of building crops through soil on the earth’s surface is leading to a catastrophe. The simple reason being for the exploding population stacked on a piece of land originally meant for few the producing resource as land remains the same. The research which the author intend to proceed for explores the idea of changing the cultivating environment same as our other built form which is “VERTICAL”.  The forth coming paper will be a humble effort to redefine our raw food production system using an artificial environment which would use the sustainable postulates such as gray water usage, net zero building guidelines, etc.

Reinventing Traditional Practices for Sustainable Dwelling Solutions in Kerala

The need for sustainable architectural solutions has been identified as a priority by many present-day researchers and purpose of this study is to understand the relevance of traditional architecture in modern context. This paper deals with the study of architectural practices, which are traditionally practiced in Kerala region of India and to derive with cost effective sustainable solutions for future dwellings. Kerala experiences tropical warm humid climate and the traditional architectural styles found to be the direct responsive mechanism and adaptable solutions, using the available resources. The vision of Laurie baker had created an impact on the field and added a new dimension to the social imagination. The idea of well-being with reference to the western standards is disturbing the essence of social as well as economical sustainability, and which threatens the environmental balance as a whole. As architectural scenario in Kerala is undergoing drastic directionless changes in present period, a few design thoughts which would be the guiding force for the future is essential. This paper reviews the above aspects to conceive the ideas and solutions for sustainable dwellings in light of tradition.