ARCH-4980.1 | Ted Ngai, Lecturer

THE COLLECTIVE MICROCOSM
Creating The Next-Generation Artifacts

KYLEEN HOOVER

Japan’s unique cultural identity is the perfect test bed for my thesis proposal which will propel the urban agriculture movement in Tokyo and offset the annual energy usage via a system that responds dynamically to climatic and cultural variables.

Japan is facing a nuclear phase-out since the meltdown of Fukushima Daichi’s Plant in 2011. Japan is now importing more fossil fuels and natural gas: causing its first annual trade deficit in over thirty years. My thesis proposal addresses the required decrease of electrical consumption by the residents of Tokyo by creating a system that collects water and utilizes solar energy to offset the electricity used in the household as well as the recycling of grey water through its structure to further absorb electrical costs.

Urban agriculture accounts for 33% of Japan’s produce output; in Tokyo alone, the agricultural production can feed 700,000 of the city dwellers. Unfortunately, with the aging of Japan’s population much of the work force which has been the backbone of urban agriculture since 1975 is dwindling. The proposed system runs concurrently with a hydroponic rice farming system which follows the development of the rice crop in all stages, using the collected water and light.

The Collective Microcosm is a system of supraterranean energy wells and subterranean networks. The supraterranean energy wells collect water from the air while reacting dynamically towards the time of day to orient its maximum surface area towards the sun. This vessel of light and water addresses the urban fabric via the transfer of light into the tight alleys of Tokyo’s residential neighborhoods and creating communal nodes. The subterranean network supports the greater infrastructure of the urban agricultural component of the project. Large caverns will be created which utilize the terracing typology of traditional rice farming into a hydroponic system of rice growth. These underground farms utilize the water collected from the supraterranean nodes as the source of water for the irrigation of the rice crop. The connections exist underground between each node and offer passages for safe travel from vehicles and the weather for the increasing bike population in Tokyo.