A comprehensive analysis of the case study ‘On the Horticultural Origins of Victorian Glasshouse Culture’ by Dustin Valen, provided an interesting proposition and critical standpoint for the program for GreenHarvest Energy Hub, which supports the agricultural industry of Rimini by developing a new typology that has emerged from the energy and agricultural crisis, with a demand for a typology that integrates the artificial, the natural and the mechanical worlds. With the opportunity for today's digital infrastructure and automated technologies, it is possible to reconnect the local and global supply chains through a proposal that accommodates mechanic automation, nature and human habitat through modern methods of farming, automated factories and infrastructural interchange. 

The glasshouse is referred to as “an environmental paradigm” in architecture that is “crossbreeding building practises” through the implementation of science connected with technological solutions that together can respond to living problems through design. It applies the question, can we reconsider how cultural and technological transfers are received in architecture to enhance environmental awareness? The report is oriented around how horticultural practices have been influenced and over the centuries developed into the concept we now refer to as artificial climates.

The project explores the case study through 2 key narrative drawings, ‘The Cultural Evolution: Transparent to Industrial’ responds to the present and future of horticultural and agriculture glasshouse culture. It focuses on the industrial side of agriculture and production to showcase how a modern version of a glasshouse is highly technical, automated and mechanical with the ability to accommodate multiple artificial, internal climates in one structure. As a project focus point, ‘The Cultural Evolution: Transparent to Industrial’ provides an introduction to the proposed program I will explore for the GreenHarvest Energy Hub.

To explore the project narrative I will experiment with basic geometric principles, tessellation and manipulation, following rules of aggregation, that compose a Kit of Parts. This section demonstrates the ability to understand architecture as a ‘kit of parts’ where parts create elements, and elements create components, these components can then be aggregated based on a set of rules. This provides the opportunity for assembly, disassembly, re-used, recycled and up-cycled as a method of modular architecture using non-standard automated assembly processes. 

The proposed site location is Rimini, and a key contributing factor to the decision behind the chosen site is the Belt and Road Initiative. Explored throughout the design brief, there is a focus on urbanisation along the Adriatic coast and the north Adriatic region accommodates the maritime terminal of the Belt and Road Initiative. Developed by the Chinese government, it is a modern-day Silk Road that forms a bridge between the Far East and Europe. This provides the opportunity to develop a program that connects and is complemented by the trade route, to enhance trade production in Rimini, and support the local socio-economic model. Taking this into consideration will be a key part of the development of The GreenHarvest Energy Hub, the project will implement a section of the quarry, to open the possibility of proposing an urban node that has infrastructural or logistic interchanges. Introducing new connections, The GreenHarvest Energy Hub concludes with a proposal that promotes sustainable agricultural product production.

Thank you for taking the time to view my portfolio. I have included a few pieces below to represent my work The GreenHarvest Energy Hub, to view the full project please get in contact.