Eindhoven – Designer Marco Federico Cagnoni presented Plastic Culture, a vertical farming concept which grows plants that are both edible and can be used to make bioplastic.
Bioplastics are typically manufactured from carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes and sugar cane, but with a rapidly rising population and potential future food shortages, Cagnoni believes it is unethical to produce food purely for this use.
The designers discovered that both black salsify and dandelions are edible but also contain latex, a natural polymer produced in over 12,500 plants. Cagnoni’s vertical farming system envisages creating autonomous and independent agricultural communities that are controlled by artificial intelligence. He hopes that this will drastically reduce the cost of products, allowing citizens and local government alike to become prosumers; actively controlling their food supply without funding a capitalist society.
For more on how designers are addressing the pitfalls of commodity crops and are proposing alternative Self-sufficient Agri-systems, keep an eye out for our forthcoming macrotrend, to be published next month.