A collective of designers and artists in New York has proposed transforming a shipping barge into a verdant floating farm, with berry bushes, lime trees and swaths of lavender, among many other plants.
Called Swale, the project was co-conceived by Mary Mattingly, an artist who creates "sculptural ecosystems in urban spaces".
In 2009, she and four companions lived for six months on a barge in New York, where they grew their own food and purified their own water. She most recently transformed an old boat hull in Philadelphia into a residency space for artists and writers.
Other Swale collaborators include Jono Neiger, a Massachusetts-based landscape designer; Casey Tang, a New York graphic designer; and Rik van Hemmen, an engineer and marine consultant from New Jersey. Artists Karla Stinger-Stein and Marisa Prefer are also contributing to the project.
The group envisions putting large garden beds atop a flat-deck barge, which would then be filled with different types of trees and edible plants. The list includes nearly 100 plant species, ranging from artichokes and arugula to Asian persimmon trees.
The "floating food forest" would be irrigated with river water, which would be run through a gravity-fed filtration system before being utilised. The farm would be open to the public.
"We want to reimagine fresh, free food as a public service, not just a commodity," said Mattingly. "We also want to reinforce water as a commons and clean water as ...