Vegetable and Gardening Tower of Othmar Ruthner in the Voivodeship Park of Culture and Recreation in Chorzów—The First Example of Vertical Farming in Poland

Justyna Kleszcz, Piotr Kmiecik and Jakub Świerzawski
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Justyna Kleszcz: Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering Architecture and Environmental Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
Piotr Kmiecik: Institute of Natural and Technical Studies, The Angelus Silesius University of Applied Sciences in Wałbrzych, 58-300 Wałbrzych, Poland
Jakub Świerzawski: Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Applied Arts, University of Technology, 40-555 Katowice, Poland

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-23

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the possibility of introducing urban vertical agriculture in Poland through the example of the only comprehensively implemented facility of this type so far. Through the example of Othmar Ruthner’s no longer existing vegetable and gardening tower in Chorzów, the benefits and damages resulting from an attempt to construct such facilities are presented. The paper also contains an analysis and an attempt to critically assess the phenomenon of the vertical greenhouse that was built in Poland, along with an attempt to assess the real causes of its failure. Based on source material analysis, examples of implementation, and available literature on the subject, an analysis of the possibilities of transforming the facility at the time of its demolition and now was made. The phenomenon of the vertical farm in Chorzów, as a trace of the contemporary architectural heritage of Upper Silesia, is a topic for a broader discussion about the architectural heritage created by buildings which are not so much industrial as technical, with a role so far only secondary to what we call the main architectural functions.

Keywords: vegetable tower; gardening tower; vertical farming; urban agriculture in Poland; vertical greenhouse; Ruthner’s Tower; Othmar Ruthner; Chorzów (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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