I recently came across the farming technique of Aquaponics. I think it has real potential to augment the fishing component of the ahupua’a* in Hawaii, as well as alternative architectural solutions. It is a quite remarkable system, the dual cultivation of crops and fish (typically) in a re-circulating environment. Fish waste builds up in the water as a by-product. The effluent-rich water becomes poisonous to the fish.
Crops are grown in a way that enables them to utilize the nutrient-rich water. The crops take up the nutrients, reducing or eliminating the water's toxicity for the fish.
The water, now clean, is returned to the aquatic animal environment and the cycle continues. Aquaponic systems do not discharge or exchange water. The systems rely on the natural relationship between the aquatic animals and the plants to maintain the environment. Water is only added to replace water loss from absorption by the plants, evaporation into the air, or the removal of biomass from the system.
The farm we visited was north of Honoka’a, Hawaii. It was started by a couple in 2007 and is apparently the first to have its produce USDA certified organic. They are shipping 2,600 pounds of lettuce and 300 pounds of tilapia per month.
We recently were discussing a project in Hawaii requiring green roofs and this seemed like a perfect option for the architecture. The mass of the water would not only provide insulation, but aesthetics of the planting could be continually rotated. As an architect in Hawaii, it is our responsibility to embrace these new technologies. They could be integrated into the architecture easily and could be expressed in a contemporary way.
* a system that emphasized the interrelationship of nature and humans, the ahupua`a contained those interrelationships in the activities of daily and seasonal life. Shaped by the Hawaiian island geography, each ahupua`a was a wedge-shaped area of land running from the mountains (volcanos) to the sea, following the natural boundaries of the watershed. Each ahupua`a contained the resources the community required, from fish and salt, to land for farming, other trees growing in upslope areas. Villagers from the coast traded fish for other foods or for koa wood to build canoes and houses. Specialized knowledge and resources peculiar to a small area were also shared among ahupua`a. Although there was no private ownership of property, land tenure was stable. They paid weekly labor taxes and annual taxes to the local overseer, who collected goods to support the chief and his court. The konohiki supervised communal labor within the ahupua`a and also regulated land, water and ocean use. Stewardship of the land and its resources was formalized through the kapu system.
No comments:
Post a Comment