A circular field gives farming room to grow

What does a self-sufficient city look like in five years? Three designers explored this question as part of Co/Lab: Totally Local (formerly What if Lab: Totally Local), a collaboration between engineering consultancy Sweco and Dutch Design Foundation. The solutions were expected to make a valuable contribution to energy, food and/or water, while optimising health, biodiversity and social cohesion for residents. Designer Floris Schoonderbeek focused on food and developed the project Circlefarming within the Co/Lab. This case takes a closer look at that project.

Co/Lab: Totally Local was initiated by engineering consultancy Sweco in collaboration with Dutch Design Foundation. The lab explored new ways in which a self-sufficient city could function in terms of food, water and energy. DDF facilitated the collaboration between the different designers, including designer, concept developer and inventor Floris Schoonderbeek.

Schoonderbeek experienced the Co/Lab as a safe environment in which he could fully immerse himself in the process in different ways. According to him, such an environment is important because creativity is often a vulnerable process. During Co/Lab: Totally Local, for example, Schoonderbeek gained access to Sweco’s expertise while also having the space to thoroughly explore the food chain.

DDF acted as a neutral party that could translate questions between the different partners. DDF also ensured that the designers retained ownership of their ideas. This allowed Schoonderbeek to continue developing Circlefarming independently after the lab had ended.

The central tool in Circlefarming is the Compass: an electric robotic arm that rotates around a fixed point and carries different tools. According to Schoonderbeek, the arm operates throughout the growing season using solar energy, making it much cleaner than ploughing with a diesel tractor. Its fixed centre point allows for highly precise cultivation. Working in a circle also offers other advantages. The spaces between the circular fields, for example, can be used for water and nature.

The design also enables different ways of working together on the land. Instead of vast, continuous fields, there are circles in which everything feels closer and more accessible to the people working there. This makes the method particularly interesting for, for example, care farms. Even after the formal completion of the Co/Lab, Schoonderbeek continued developing the project with his team, which now consists of six people. According to the designer, the next step is to gain a clearer understanding of what the system can offer growers.