Illustration courtesy The Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc.
Shown is a rendering of Growing Power’s dream home — a vertical garden in the middle of Milwaukee, Wis.
Growing Power, the nonprofit urban-farm brainchild of one of Time magazine’s 2010 100 World’s Most Influential People, Will Allen, has gone before the Plan Commission in Milwaukee, Wis., for approval for its ambitious new facility.
“It’s moving along well. I see the decade of 2010 as potentially explosive for what Will calls ‘The Good Food Revolution,’” Growing Power Board President Jerry Kaufman says.
Designed by Kubala Washatko Architects, Inc., an architect firm based in Cedarburg, Wis., known for its beautiful and sustainable green designs, describes the building as a “highly sustainable, urban, five-story vertical farm including greenhouses and conference, training and retail spaces.”
Its slanted, glass façade will be used to grow food with natural light, creating greenhouses, but Growing Power’s vertical garden is much more than just a new, green building. According to the Journal Sentinel, it is projected to be a model for an agricultural revolution for cities around the world.
Not only will Growing Power’s building produce vegetables, it will also house fish tanks and hydroponic capabilities along with a food processing area and rooms for agriculture education. Partialy powered by solar energy, it will also be using rainwater as irrigation by way of the channels that lay across the front exterior.
Growing Power is hoping the structure will be allowed to sit on its already-thriving, historic, 2-acre lot. At present, it is the last remaining farm and greenhouse operation in Milwaukee. The center currently offers many opportunities to be a part of the Community Food Systems.
“Everybody, regardless of their economic means, should have access to the same healthy, safe, affordable food that is grown naturally,” says Allen.
