Vincent Callebaut Architectures have designed what they call a metabolic farm for urban agriculture to be built on Roosevelt Island in New York City. It is called Dragonfly because it’s form is based on the wing of a dragonfly.

The building would offer housing, offices, laboratories in ecological engineering, vertical farming spaces that can be cultivated by its inhabitants.

In their own words:
Floor by floor, the tower superposes not only stock farming ensuring the production of meat, milk, poultry and eggs but also farming grounds, true biological reactors continuously regenerated with organic humus. It diversifies the cultivated varieties to avoid the washing of stratums of soft substratum. Thus, the cultures succeed one another vertically according to their agronomical ability to provide some elements of the ground between the essences that are sowed and harvested. The tower, true living organism, becomes thus metabolic and self-sufficient in water, energy, and bio-fertilizing. Nothing is lost; everything is recyclable to a continuous auto-feeding!

And it looks so freakin’ cool!

I think I speak for many people all over the world when I say that I am so unbelievably hopeful at this time in American history. The last 8 years seemed to be one disappointment after another. Perhaps disappointment is too light a word. It was a time that I wasn’t proud to be living in this country.

It is a great testament to the people that we were able to recognize how low we had gotten as a country and make a drastic change. Although Obama has a huge job in dragging this country out of an economic, political, healthcare, and environmental crisis, I think he’s up for the job.

I am especially hopeful that he will make strides towards renewable energy. To me, one of the saddest moments was when Ronald Reagan tore down the solar panels from the White House that Jimmy Carter had installed. I’m crossing my fingers that the Obamas put them back up!