Producing food within an urban context is gaining much interest. Now, the French architectural firm Zundel and Cristea have developed an intriguing design for smaller-scale urban farms, to be dotted over the urban fabric. These farms have been designed to both grow and process food, then serve it via on-site restaurants.

On the bowl-like contours of spiraling soil structures, various types of ‘produce’ can be grown. Visitors can choose to enjoy their green spaces or visit the hidden internal workings of these farm structures (where ‘produce’ is served or packaged for sale on the market).

Zundel and Cristea’s envisage each farm acting as a neighbourhood food centre that serves residents locally. Keeping things local means great savings on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions normally incurred when transporting food from rural areas (where it is normally grown) to city centres (where it is consumed in large quantities). In addition, the architects imagine using wind-turbines to achieve energy sustainable farming landmarks. The result is economically, socially, and agriculturally productive.

Focus is beginning to shift towards agricultural decentralization in accordance with new city-planning regulations being introduced (its environmentally conscious and ecological after all!). Zundel and Cristea’s elegant solution makes larger-scale urban farming a feasible strategy for our cities of the future.d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);