The particularly European approach to the swiftly evolving phenomenon of rooftop farming is typified by Agrotopia, a 2.5-acre expanse of aluminum-framed greenhouses built on top of a pre-existing L-shaped industrial warehouse in the Belgian town of Roeselare. Whereas rooftop food production in the U.S. often aims to make a dense urbanism more verdant, as well as provide fresh (though pricey) produce to the restaurant market, rooftop farming in Europe has emerged alongside existing agricultural production and is being built in landscapes at the border of suburb and country already inhabited by intensive farming and light industry.

The L-shaped facility occupies an agricultural and industrial landscape. Photo © Filip Dujardin, click to enlarge.