14 DAY TRIAL // It's one thing to create a facsimile of a plant that's actually quite dead, and another to raise one from seed form all the way to adulthood. The real thing not only looks and feels better but it can help in other ways too. That was part of the drive behind Yuichiro Takeuchi's latest project.
Do you remember that vertical garden that looks like a calorifier? Well, you might want to check out the new idea shared by Japanese computer scientist Yuichiro Takeuchi.
It was developed in collaboration with Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., for urban gardens that can be designed and built with 3D printing technology but do, nonetheless, hold living plant life.
Takeuchi found a way to use a 3D printer and software he made himself to create yarn encasements that contain seeds and can be used to cultivate plants in water by adding mineral nutrient solutions over time.
It's a new form of hydroponics, basically, one that could eventually be used to grow food on sea vessels or even out in space.
If the International Space Station is getting ready to inject animals and people with remote-controlled drug-dispensing implants, it should have the means to set up something like this as well. Especially with a 3D printer already up there.
The 3D printed yarn ball-based garden
The idea was to make something that didn't actually need any soil, essentially eliminating the likelihood of causing a mess, which is the main detractor from the appeal or urban gardens.
You can design the garden in any shape you wish, since the yarn mesh allows the plants to be grown not just normally, but on vertical surfaces too, with some adjustments.
That's why you can easily install them on balconies, in atriums and even on rooftops. You can even make theme gardens, like Takeuchi did when he built one shaped like a panda of all things.
The inventor is currently growing plans like watercress, basil and arugula, but he hopes to make yarn encasements large enough for fruit, vegetables and eventually trees too.
A tall order, to be sure, especially since a larger and faster printer will need to be invented first, but everything has to start somewhere.
The other benefit of urban gardens
According to Takeuchi, a larger number of urban gardens will lead to many more foliage which, in turn, will act as living arrangements for the fireflies that the Japanese love so much. So the things double as means of beautification automatically.
