© CRA

CRA merges architecture with urban agriculture in its design of Jian Mu Tower, a 218-meter high building in Shenzhen, China, which incorporates a large-scale farm into its 51-story structure. The complex is set to become the world’s first “farmscraper,” producing crops that can feed 40,000 people a year, while also housing offices, a supermarket and a food court.

CRA将建筑与都市农业融合在一起，设计了中国深圳218米高的建木塔，在51层的建筑中融入了一个大型农场。该综合体将成为世界上第一个“农场铲运机”，生产的农作物每年可养活4万人，同时还将设有办公室、超市和美食街。

© CRA

International design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati has released the design for an office tower in China, whose façade features a vertical hydroponic farm extending the entire height of the building. The Jian Mu Tower, located in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was conceived for an international competition organized by leading Chinese supermarket chain Wumart. It introduces a new kind of skyscraper where the natural and the artificial closely overlap. The building’s design makes it possible for the building’s tenants to cultivate, purchase and consume fresh vegetables and fruits directly inside the tower.

国际设计和创新事务所CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati发布了中国一座办公楼的设计，其立面采用垂直水培农场延伸整个建筑物的高度。建木塔位于中国南部城市深圳，是为中国领先的连锁超市物美组织的国际竞争而设计的。它展示了一种新的摩天大楼，自然和人工紧密重叠。该建筑的设计使建筑的租户可以直接在塔内种植、购买和消费新鲜的蔬菜和水果。

© CRA

Jian Mu Tower was conceived to occupy the last plot available in Shenzhen’s Central Business District, which would complete the skyline of the area’s central axis. The 218-meter high tower dedicates 10,000 square meters of space on its façade to the cultivation of crops. The vertical hydroponic farm will produce an estimated 270,000 kilograms of food per year, enough to cover the needs of roughly 40,000 people. Jian Mu Tower establishes a self-sustained food supply chain, encompassing the cultivation, harvest, sale and consumption of crops, all inside the same building. In addition, the tower will house offices, a supermarket, and a food court.

建木大厦占据了深圳中央商务区的最后一块地块，它将完成该地区中轴线的天际线。这座高218米的塔楼将其外墙10,000平方米的空间用于种植农作物。垂直水培农场每年将生产约270,000公斤粮食，足以满足大约4万人的需要。建木大厦建立了一个自给自足的食品供应链，包括作物的种植、收获、销售和消费，所有这些都在同一栋建筑内。此外，这座塔还将设有办公室、一个超市和一个美食广场。

© CRA

“Small-scale urban farming is happening in cities all over the world – from Paris to New York to Singapore. Jian Mu Tower, however, takes it to the next level, Such approach has the potential to play a major role in the design of future cities, as it engages one of today’s most pressing architectural challenges: How to integrate the natural world into building design,” says Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  “In addition to producing food, the Jian Mu Tower’s farm helps with solar shading – a key issue in tall buildings.”

“从巴黎到纽约再到新加坡，小规模城市农业在世界各地的城市都在发生。然而，建木大厦将其提升到一个新的层次。这种方法有可能在未来城市的设计中发挥重要作用，因为它涉及到当今最紧迫的建筑挑战之一:如何将自然世界融入到建筑设计中，”CRA的创始人合伙人、麻省理工学院教授Carlo Ratti说。“除了生产食物，建木大厦的农场还有助于遮阳，这是高层建筑的一个关键问题。”

© CRA

The name of the tower is derived from the mythical symbol of the “jian mu tree” which, in ancient Chinese folklore, connects heaven and earth. According to traditional belief, heaven is round while the earth is square. The skyscraper echoes this principle with its rectangular base that gradually morphs into a tubular form as it rises. The tower offers 90,000 square meters of space across 51 levels.

这座塔的名字来自于中国古代民间传说中连接天地的“建木树”的神话符号。根据传统信仰，天是圆的，地是方的。摩天大楼呼应了这一原则，它的矩形基座随着上升逐渐演变成管状。该大厦共有51层，占地9万平方米。

Working with ZERO, an Italian-based company that specializes in innovative approaches to agriculture, the tower’s farm is optimized to produce everything from salad greens to fruits to aromatic herbs, while remaining efficient and sustainable. An AI-supported “virtual agronomist” is tasked with the farm’s day-to-day operations, managing irrigation, nutritional conditions, and other matters.

通过与专门从事农业创新的意大利公司ZERO合作，塔楼的农场经过优化，可以生产各种蔬菜沙拉、水果和芳香香草，同时保持高效和可持续。人工智能支持的“虚拟农艺师”负责农场的日常运营，管理灌溉、营养条件和其他事务。

Apart from the vertical farm, the building’s natural and artificial elements work alongside one another in many other ways. On the tower’s outside, a series of landscape terraces house a wide variety of flora including water lily, fern and lychee. These terraces promote biodiversity and take advantage of Shenzhen’s abundant precipitation in their sustainable irrigation system. In addition, the office workers inside Jian Mu Tower are able to utilize the inner gardens for relaxation and social interaction. The gardens themselves are double-height and seamlessly integrated into the interior spaces, allowing tenants to feel immersed in a natural setting. The prominence of greenery on the building’s surface effectively reduces solar irradiance in indoor areas and the need for air conditioning. Furthermore, workers can use a mobile app to customize the micro-climatic conditions of their offices.

除了垂直农场，建筑的自然和人工元素在许多其他方面相互配合。在塔的外面，一系列景观露台上种植着各种植物，包括睡莲、蕨类植物和荔枝。这些梯田促进了生物多样性，并在可持续灌溉系统中利用了深圳丰富的降水。此外，建木大厦内的办公人员可以利用内部花园进行休闲和社交活动。花园本身是通高的，与室内空间无缝结合，让租户感觉沉浸在自然环境中。建筑表面突出的绿色植物有效地减少了室内的太阳辐照度和对空调的需求。此外，员工可以使用移动应用程序定制办公室的微气候条件。

Jian Mu Tower is the latest example of CRA’s efforts to incorporate natural and agricultural systems into urban structures. Projects sharing a similar sensibility include VITAE, a building complex in Milan currently under construction for Covivio, which is anchored by a 200-meter-long vineyard accessible to the public. In Singapore, the studio is collaborating with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group to construct the CapitaSpring Tower for CapitaLand. The 280-meter high building, set to open in late 2021, features an indoor forest that stretches across several levels. Finally, the Shenzhen skyscraper’s proposition for a smart supermarket was preceded by the Future Food District at the 2015 Milan World Expo, designed by CRA for Coop Italia, Italy’s leading supermarket chain.

建木大厦是CRA努力將自然和农业系统融入城市结构的最新例子。同样典型的项目包括VITAE，这是一个位于米兰的建筑群，目前正在为Covivio建造，它坐落在一个200米长的葡萄园內，向公众开放。在新加坡，该工作室正在与BIG-Bjarke Ingels集团合作，为凯德置地建造凯德弹簧大厦。这座280米高的建筑于2021年开放，设有一个跨越几个楼层的室內森林。最后，深圳摩天大樓的智慧超市的实践之前，2015年米兰世博会的未来食品区，由CRA为意大利领先的连锁超市Coop Italia设计。

译者：吴少欣

Credits

Jian Mu Tower

A project by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Creative Lead: Italo Rota

CRA Team: Carlo Ratti, Antonio Atripaldi (partner in charge), Chiara Borghi, Mario Daudo, Rui Guan, Chenyu Xu

Renderings by CRA graphic team: Gary di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri, Gianluca Zimbardi

Collaborators

Structures, MEP and Façade: ARUP

Local Architect: Lapis Bureau

Hydroponic Farming System: ZERO

Landscape Design: Gross Max

Media Façade and Contents: iart, studio for media architectures

Design Consultant: South China University of Technology, Politecnico di Torino

© CRA

CRA merges architecture with urban agriculture in its design of Jian Mu Tower, a 218-meter high building in Shenzhen, China, which incorporates a large-scale farm into its 51-story structure. The complex is set to become the world’s first “farmscraper,” producing crops that can feed 40,000 people a year, while also housing offices, a supermarket and a food court.

CRA将建筑与都市农业融合在一起，设计了中国深圳218米高的建木塔，在51层的建筑中融入了一个大型农场。该综合体将成为世界上第一个“农场铲运机”，生产的农作物每年可养活4万人，同时还将设有办公室、超市和美食街。

© CRA

International design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati has released the design for an office tower in China, whose façade features a vertical hydroponic farm extending the entire height of the building. The Jian Mu Tower, located in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was conceived for an international competition organized by leading Chinese supermarket chain Wumart. It introduces a new kind of skyscraper where the natural and the artificial closely overlap. The building’s design makes it possible for the building’s tenants to cultivate, purchase and consume fresh vegetables and fruits directly inside the tower.

国际设计和创新事务所CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati发布了中国一座办公楼的设计，其立面采用垂直水培农场延伸整个建筑物的高度。建木塔位于中国南部城市深圳，是为中国领先的连锁超市物美组织的国际竞争而设计的。它展示了一种新的摩天大楼，自然和人工紧密重叠。该建筑的设计使建筑的租户可以直接在塔内种植、购买和消费新鲜的蔬菜和水果。

© CRA

Jian Mu Tower was conceived to occupy the last plot available in Shenzhen’s Central Business District, which would complete the skyline of the area’s central axis. The 218-meter high tower dedicates 10,000 square meters of space on its façade to the cultivation of crops. The vertical hydroponic farm will produce an estimated 270,000 kilograms of food per year, enough to cover the needs of roughly 40,000 people. Jian Mu Tower establishes a self-sustained food supply chain, encompassing the cultivation, harvest, sale and consumption of crops, all inside the same building. In addition, the tower will house offices, a supermarket, and a food court.

建木大厦占据了深圳中央商务区的最后一块地块，它将完成该地区中轴线的天际线。这座高218米的塔楼将其外墙10,000平方米的空间用于种植农作物。垂直水培农场每年将生产约270,000公斤粮食，足以满足大约4万人的需要。建木大厦建立了一个自给自足的食品供应链，包括作物的种植、收获、销售和消费，所有这些都在同一栋建筑内。此外，这座塔还将设有办公室、一个超市和一个美食广场。

© CRA

“Small-scale urban farming is happening in cities all over the world – from Paris to New York to Singapore. Jian Mu Tower, however, takes it to the next level, Such approach has the potential to play a major role in the design of future cities, as it engages one of today’s most pressing architectural challenges: How to integrate the natural world into building design,” says Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  “In addition to producing food, the Jian Mu Tower’s farm helps with solar shading – a key issue in tall buildings.”

“从巴黎到纽约再到新加坡，小规模城市农业在世界各地的城市都在发生。然而，建木大厦将其提升到一个新的层次。这种方法有可能在未来城市的设计中发挥重要作用，因为它涉及到当今最紧迫的建筑挑战之一:如何将自然世界融入到建筑设计中，”CRA的创始人合伙人、麻省理工学院教授Carlo Ratti说。“除了生产食物，建木大厦的农场还有助于遮阳，这是高层建筑的一个关键问题。”

© CRA

The name of the tower is derived from the mythical symbol of the “jian mu tree” which, in ancient Chinese folklore, connects heaven and earth. According to traditional belief, heaven is round while the earth is square. The skyscraper echoes this principle with its rectangular base that gradually morphs into a tubular form as it rises. The tower offers 90,000 square meters of space across 51 levels.

这座塔的名字来自于中国古代民间传说中连接天地的“建木树”的神话符号。根据传统信仰，天是圆的，地是方的。摩天大楼呼应了这一原则，它的矩形基座随着上升逐渐演变成管状。该大厦共有51层，占地9万平方米。

Working with ZERO, an Italian-based company that specializes in innovative approaches to agriculture, the tower’s farm is optimized to produce everything from salad greens to fruits to aromatic herbs, while remaining efficient and sustainable. An AI-supported “virtual agronomist” is tasked with the farm’s day-to-day operations, managing irrigation, nutritional conditions, and other matters.

通过与专门从事农业创新的意大利公司ZERO合作，塔楼的农场经过优化，可以生产各种蔬菜沙拉、水果和芳香香草，同时保持高效和可持续。人工智能支持的“虚拟农艺师”负责农场的日常运营，管理灌溉、营养条件和其他事务。

Apart from the vertical farm, the building’s natural and artificial elements work alongside one another in many other ways. On the tower’s outside, a series of landscape terraces house a wide variety of flora including water lily, fern and lychee. These terraces promote biodiversity and take advantage of Shenzhen’s abundant precipitation in their sustainable irrigation system. In addition, the office workers inside Jian Mu Tower are able to utilize the inner gardens for relaxation and social interaction. The gardens themselves are double-height and seamlessly integrated into the interior spaces, allowing tenants to feel immersed in a natural setting. The prominence of greenery on the building’s surface effectively reduces solar irradiance in indoor areas and the need for air conditioning. Furthermore, workers can use a mobile app to customize the micro-climatic conditions of their offices.

除了垂直农场，建筑的自然和人工元素在许多其他方面相互配合。在塔的外面，一系列景观露台上种植着各种植物，包括睡莲、蕨类植物和荔枝。这些梯田促进了生物多样性，并在可持续灌溉系统中利用了深圳丰富的降水。此外，建木大厦内的办公人员可以利用内部花园进行休闲和社交活动。花园本身是通高的，与室内空间无缝结合，让租户感觉沉浸在自然环境中。建筑表面突出的绿色植物有效地减少了室内的太阳辐照度和对空调的需求。此外，员工可以使用移动应用程序定制办公室的微气候条件。

Jian Mu Tower is the latest example of CRA’s efforts to incorporate natural and agricultural systems into urban structures. Projects sharing a similar sensibility include VITAE, a building complex in Milan currently under construction for Covivio, which is anchored by a 200-meter-long vineyard accessible to the public. In Singapore, the studio is collaborating with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group to construct the CapitaSpring Tower for CapitaLand. The 280-meter high building, set to open in late 2021, features an indoor forest that stretches across several levels. Finally, the Shenzhen skyscraper’s proposition for a smart supermarket was preceded by the Future Food District at the 2015 Milan World Expo, designed by CRA for Coop Italia, Italy’s leading supermarket chain.

建木大厦是CRA努力將自然和农业系统融入城市结构的最新例子。同样典型的项目包括VITAE，这是一个位于米兰的建筑群，目前正在为Covivio建造，它坐落在一个200米长的葡萄园內，向公众开放。在新加坡，该工作室正在与BIG-Bjarke Ingels集团合作，为凯德置地建造凯德弹簧大厦。这座280米高的建筑于2021年开放，设有一个跨越几个楼层的室內森林。最后，深圳摩天大樓的智慧超市的实践之前，2015年米兰世博会的未来食品区，由CRA为意大利领先的连锁超市Coop Italia设计。

译者：吴少欣

Credits

Jian Mu Tower

A project by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Creative Lead: Italo Rota

CRA Team: Carlo Ratti, Antonio Atripaldi (partner in charge), Chiara Borghi, Mario Daudo, Rui Guan, Chenyu Xu

Renderings by CRA graphic team: Gary di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri, Gianluca Zimbardi

Collaborators

Structures, MEP and Façade: ARUP

Local Architect: Lapis Bureau

Hydroponic Farming System: ZERO

Landscape Design: Gross Max

Media Façade and Contents: iart, studio for media architectures

Design Consultant: South China University of Technology, Politecnico di Torino