‘Impossible Object’ was activated and documented on the International Space Station (ISS) by astronaut Eitan Stibe during mission AX-1, April 2022. ‘Impossible Object’ is a research-based artwork, where micro-gravity physics is the medium. In the absence of gravitation, what is the shape of a piece of sea or a handful of a wave? The sculpture’s composition of rods and tubes resembles a wavy staircase that has no directionality. With no gravitation to direct the water downwards, the water adheres to the sculpture’s metal structure, forming a dynamic three-dimensional liquid composition, shaped by the water’s surface tension and its tendency to cling to the structure due to adhesion forces. The sculpture is built as a composition of brass rods and tubes, through which water flows. The liquid’s three-dimensional form does not get its shape from any vessel and as such cannot exist on earth, but only in outer space in the absence of gravity. ‘Impossible Object’ is a sculpture made of liquid water. We’ve really been trying to identify the solutions that get us moving in the right direction.INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, Low Earth Orbit | April 2022 “We’ve all seen the pictures of rooftop skyscrapers that grow food, and that’s a wonderful goal, but is that going to happen within the next 50 to 60 years? Maybe not.
“We’ve tried to chart a course with our development that gives flexibility and ease of installation so we can get farming happening now,” he says. By 2050, when the global population hits 9 billion, farms will need to produce 70% more food at the same time they’re facing new challenges like water scarcity, pricier land, and a declining supply of cheap labor as workers are finally paid more fairly. It could also play a role in helping the world grow enough food for an increasing population.
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That would free up critical farmland, like California’s Salinas Valley, for crops that are unlikely to fit well into cities, like almonds or potatoes. “I see a real potential to start moving some of the production of these highly perishable food categories closer to urban centers to reduce food waste, food miles, and ultimately deliver a more nutritious, higher quality product to consumers,” Halmos says. While the company doesn’t believe that urban agriculture can ever replace conventional ag, they think that it can play a critical role for some crops, like leafy greens, that degrade quickly. An independent safety agency automatically certifies any urban farmer using the system’s software. By sealing off the plants in a greenhouse and using recirculated water, Cityblooms is able to guarantee food safety. Recent studies have highlighted the fact that urban gardening isn’t always safe a Cornell University study that looked at New York City gardens found unsafe levels of lead in almost half of root vegetables. “So we can size a farming installation appropriately to the demands and consumption patterns and profiles of the community that the farm is built to serve.” “The modularity also gives us the ability to scale very easily,” Halmos says. The units can also be built around whatever other equipment happens to be on the roof. While greenhouse technology might weigh 50 pounds per square foot–far more than an average roof is designed to handle–the Cityblooms system weighs between 15 to 17 pounds per square foot. The tiny growing units also have advantages over large greenhouses being built on some urban rooftops. “We’re bringing proven commercial agriculture technology and just reformatting it into a form factor that’s more compatible with the nuances of urban development.”
“You’re not getting any of the yield improvements from either automated hydroponics, or from the large mechanization that’s been developed to make farming profitable in the industrial agriculture sphere,” he says.
“Urban gardening is a wonderful community-building exercise, but from a technology perspective, it’s largely like going back to the Stone Age,” says Nick Halmos, founder and CEO of Cityblooms. A cluster of 16 units can grow around five tons of lettuce in a year. Unlike a neighborhood garden, the system can grow very large volumes of produce. The hydroponic units are cloud-connected, so farmers can remotely track the growth of their crops, as well as control irrigation, humidity, and plant nutrition. The company makes small, modular “growbots,” lightweight greenhouses that can squeeze into vacant city corners and grow food more efficiently than the typical community garden. But a startup called Cityblooms hopes to help change that.
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