Archisteem 13: Friendly Architecture Curation - An Aging Community’s Hybrid House

Today's curated project: Home Farm

This conceptual proposal is led by SPARK which took place in Singapore. The proposal is a farming + residential hybrid type of home that the residents can spend their time to interact via farming. The proposal is intended to deliver a plausible solution to create new roles for the aging community which is to farm. This is part of ‘agritecture’ approach that I am interested and continuously exploring in.

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In Asia like Japan and Singapore, both of these nations are starting to face two major problems, which are aging population and food scarcity. Due to its density of population and the scarcity of land, these countries have no extra land for agricultural purpose. Thus, we see a lot of news that they are adapting to new technology like smart indoor vertical farming that can produce food in a controlled environment. This will stabilize the food security of the country at the very least. On the other hand, aging community is one of the social concerns as elderly people may need more care than an adult. When the population of the young is lesser than the old, then it will create problems for both sides of the age group. The elderly will not have sufficient care they needed and the young will not have a productive economy setting as most of the population has retired.

In order to solve both of this problem, the architect devised a proposal title “Home Farm” that integrates vertical aquaponic farming, rooftop planting with soil that connects with a high-density housing designed for senior citizens. This not only provides the residents a green and natural environment for their retirement life, they can also engage with farming activities that could generate income, a venue for social interaction and a way to stretch the body.

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According to the statistic from Singapore’s demographics, Singapore old age support ration which is 20-64 years old per senior was 13.5: 1 in 1970 but reduced to 4.8:1 in 2014! By 2030, it is predicted to drop further to 2:1 which means 1 out of 5 people will be a senior citizen, older than 64 years old. Not to say that getting old is something bad but a natural course. Nonetheless, things get a bit slower for the elderly and the nation will lose its competitive edge. Thus, without putting the young population into care taking the industry, how can the senior citizens survive? Perhaps, staying together as a community and taking care of each other could be more efficient?

Sky Greens Singapore is one of the biggest vertical farming project in town, working on hydroponics vertical farming.

In terms of food security, Singapore imports over 90% of its food which is risky for the country. Singapore as a small agricultural sector that produces eggs, fish, poultry and vegetables but the amount is insignificant if there is any crisis. Although I do see some initiative of adopting vertical farming with aquaponics and hydroponics method, it is still unclear that whether this can be the solution for the country’s food security.

Traditionally, it is normal for older people to live with their spouse and their children. Unfortunately, the trend now has changed and most of the time, older people (parents) will usually live separately with their children and some time it may be quite far in terms of physical distance (like me living 350km away from my home). With that being said, older people living alone may be a trend in the future (and it is happening now). Being old does not mean that life is easy, especially for those who do not have proper financial planning for their retired life. Some will struggle just to keep their end’s meet and there are not many jobs available for them to earn. Their children may not be able to provide much financial support for their older parents as the living cost in Singapore is tremendous. Despite the worry about financial support, older people are more prone to chronic disease too. In order to access medical support, they also need financial aid if they have no insurance or family backup.

Therefore, in my opinion, I see this proposal as a viable solution to tap in the power of elderly to further contribute to the community regardless of age. As long as they are fit, they are just as good as any other adult. While the government is also pushing some of the initiative for the elderly like enhancing the employment and financial security, enabling barrier free environment, providing a holistic and affordable healthcare and promoting active lifestyle.

In this Home Farm proposal, the seniors could involve in planting, harvesting, sorting, packing, tours, sales, delivery and so on. Then, the residents (which are the seniors citizens) will be remunerated with salary, or offsetting their rental and utility bills and even healthcare cost. This project will most likely to be adopt by private entity while the government will take on the role on policy making that enable such concept to be realized soon.

The time will come to us one day or another that we are old. For now, I am seeing my parents getting older day by day. I do want them to have a great retired life and have something to do and have fun. Through architecture, I hope to create spaces that enable them to have such life.

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Source of images used and reference article. Click here

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Hope you enjoy the curation. If you have any projects that you wished to be curated, do drop a comment to me. Any critics and suggestions about my curation are welcome!

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This is an #archisteem post.

A new tag that is to curate our existing built environment and also future built environment development. Want to know more? Read here.

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Find me at @kimzwarch