project:

BIOOCTANIC, crop production tower

author:

UPI-2M

status:

competition

exhibitions:

SALON OF ARCHITECTURE, HAMBURG – 2009

WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL ‘MORE IS LESS’ – 2009

location:

Zagreb, Croatia

awards:

WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL FINALIST, FUTURE PROJECTS category – 2009

finals for ARHITEKTON year award 2011 – 2011

publications:

VISAO, Portugal – 2009

article in daily news papers “Jutarnji list”, 21/6/2009 – 2009

EBDAAT, no. 4 – 2009

Poslovni dnevnik, 03.02.2010. – 2010

ARHITEKTON, February/March – 2010

ARCHIWORLD magazine – 2009

Our solution is creation of utility towers used for production of bio fuel and city air recuperation. The idea is to place these towers on positions of existing petrol stations in cities. Our research led us to the conclusion that algae and bamboo would give best production results; max. amount of bio-fuels per unit of surface (or spatial unit), also considering other factors, like cost of technologies required for cultivation and processing, growth rate, annual input-to-yield ratio, etc. We envisioned this system and applied it to our immediate environment, cities in Croatia, but it is applicable to any urban area in the world. By applying the Bio towers we would reduce the amount of valuable agricultural land used for production of bio-fuel plants, reduce transportation costs and related air pollution. This kind of crop production also has advantages over farming in open spaces, because it’s not weather-dependant, and you can create artificial conditions which enhance the plant growth (conditions that can’t be achieved in the natural environment). The visual identity of the towers is a symbol and result of their function. Beside the benefits of bio-fuel and oxygen production, we consider their architectural appearance as an added value primarily to the conscience of the city inhabitants.