- documenta
At documenta fifteen (2022), the vertical farm at the school Offene Schule Waldau was one of the key sustainability projects financed via the “sustainability euro” included in the admission ticket. Unfortunately, the school now has to discontinue the project, which is no longer profitable.
documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH regrets this development, especially in view of the students and teachers who have shown great personal commitment to osWertical. The vertical greenhouse sought to achieve high crop yields through rapid harvest cycles with low energy consumption. However, due to harvests being delayed by a week in practice, it was not possible to run it profitably in the long term. Furthermore, it was no longer viable to meet the logistical challenge in the day-to-day running of the school.
In the shipping container, which was designed by students together with lumbung member Wajukuu Art Project, a vertical farm was created that would produce as much fruit and vegetables in 30 square meters as an arable surface of 6,000 square meters. In the spirit of lumbung practice, not only was the harvest to be shared among the students, but there was also to be an exchange of knowledge. “The possibility of failure is part and parcel of progressive projects,” says Dr. Andreas Hoffmann, Managing Director of documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH, “Of course, we are now keeping all our fingers crossed that a committed partner to run the farm can be found.”