The Aquaponics Platform

   Melbourne is facing its highest ever increase in population, and it is predicted that the population will be two fold at 2050. With this sudden increase in density, social interaction has evolved into its most complex and intense than ever. Public spaces where the relationship of the community is built will have to be revolutionized into space that maximizes quality as well as quantitative factor. The conventional design approach where forms are derived top down through typological reference is reductive and stagnant, as opposed to the pattern and intensity of social interaction nowadays.


   Besides, with this intense increase in populations, there is a possibility that its rate will surpass the rate of food production. Being a city dweller especially, we know nothing about farming. Farm in most of the city dwellers’ understanding remain a huge piece of land operated by farmers in the outback.


   Located near the Victoria Market in between Peel Street and Franklin Street, ‘The Aquaponics Platform’ aims to utilize this interstitial space as an opportunity to reassess the relationship between programs of different genres following this intense increase in density and population in the city. The project combines aquaponics farm allotments and recreational spaces that seem incompatible conventionally, in the same space. The aquaponics allotments will be owned or rented by city dwellers, whereas the recreational
space will be set its purpose as a result of bottom up self organization amongst the occupants of the allotments as a community. Emergent, where the behavior of the whole is much more complex than the behavior of its parts, an effect of multiplication instead of addition is anticipated. With this new kind of typology, it might generate excitement and anticipation like never before.


   ‘The Aquaponics Platform’ was very much inspired by the study of mold growth and networks, especially in terms of its circulation planning and form generation. Through research, we discovered the similarity in behavior between mold and human. Mold portrays swarm behavior when in search of nutrients and suitable living conditions, and forms a network of certain pattern to facilitate nutrients transfer and so on. And human portrays swarming behavior differ not much from those of mold during their social interaction. This can be easily observed in a group of people interacting in public space such as park, crowd behavior to buskers on the streets or even private event such as a dinner party. ‘The aquaponics platform’ is hence designed and created having the idea to facilitate and activate social behavior as such, emphasizing on 3 elements: circulations, point of meetings and allotment. This is done utilising Delaunay Triangulations that avoids skinny allotment that would be unfit for farming as well as achieves circulation and meeting points pattern similar to those of the mold.
 
   Overall, ‘The Aquaponics Platform’ is space where Melbournians of different interest, backgrounds and cultures come together through farming as a medium. It’s basic aim is to increase the city dwellers understanding and involvement on food production and at the same time create spaces for different activities
as an attempt to a more integrated community. Its wider result would however be more than addition of its planned purposes but a multiplied one, and is something we anticipates, towards a more effective and yet exciting city.