American University of Sharjah
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Camilo Cerro, Professor of Architecture and Interior Design, American University of Sharjah

Professor Camillo leads a semester in Spain annually with students from the College of Architecture, Art and Design.

Immersion Program Description: The United Nations projects that the global population will increase from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.7 billion in 2050. This growth will be concentrated in the world’s poorest countries, where standards of living are set to rise rapidly, increasing demand for resource-intensive meat and dairy products. Together, these trends are heightening fears that the world’s cupboards may run bare in the coming decades. This scenario leads to the nearly ubiquitous assertion that we must double world food production by 2050, which is widely repeated by agribusinesses and scholars alike. This claim is often coupled with calls to reduce impacts on the environment even as food production ramps up. The common prescription is for a sustainable intensification of agriculture that both increases yields and reduces the harmful side effects of tilling and fertilizing billions of acres of land. With this in mind our studio will tackle with the creation of an urban farm, designed to produce food for the city of Barcelona and the areas surrounding it. This farm will use hydroponics, aquaponics, fungiculture and other food producing systems to design a vertical farm in the center of Poble Nou, Barcelona. The proposed facility will include: Food production elements, restaurants, space for cooking and urban farming classes, housing and a market/ supermarket.