Puerto Rico's living Graft Tower could one day house and feed you

It may look like the human battery farm from The Matrix, but the Graft Tower is actually a "parametric-designed eco-hotel and vertical farm," which includes plant material growing inside its structure and creates ethanol through natural processes.

The tower, which would literally "grow" by grafting organic material around the base of the structure's frame and allowing it to grow upward, is a "net plus" resource building that could provide water, food, and energy for a busy neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico — not to mention the eco-hotel and apartments for permanent residents built into the structure itself. The end result is a symbiotic relationship between the organic shelter and its human inhabitants.

According to eVolo:


Optimizing the frame's capacity for natural ventilation and cooling, a twisting tower is created, with each unit's shape stretching toward the West, as determined by wind dynamics. Water is collected at the bottom of each unit and then dispersed throughout the open framework into the vertical farming. The plants grow sporadically throughout the transforming building, as they are able to find water and sunlight... Condensation, which is typical problem in the Puerto Rico environment, is managed by the yellow "vascular" system. Certain portions of the vascular system also distribute liquid ethanol, a product of the artificial photosynthesis skin panels, which fuels the energy demands of the building. The faceted skin allows a large variation in the electro-chromatic vision panels.

Puerto Rico's living Graft Tower could one day house and feed you

You'll find more information of the Graft Tower, including breathtaking concept images, at eVolo.