DWELLINGS IN VERTICAL FARMS

The project is based on a modular building system, developed by Studio Precht, that investigates the connection of people with their food and creates a building that connects architecture with agriculture.

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During the last two centuries we became disconnected from our food. But food and shelter are human needs and architects can rethink their relation. There is an opportunity to reconnect architecture and agriculture and change them to the betterment of both. “I think we miss this physical and mental connection with nature and this project could be a catalyst to reconnect ourselves with the lifecycle of our environment,” said Chris Precht. His wife and partner Fei Precht added: “Our motivation for ‘the Farmhouse’ is personal. Two years ago, we relocated our office from the centre of Beijing to the mountains of Austria. We live and work now off the grid and try to be as self-sufficient as somehow possible. We grow most of the food ourselves and get the rest from neighbouring farmers. We now have a very different relation to food. A tomato from your garden tastes different than the one shipped around the globe. We are aware that this lifestyle is not an option for everyone, so we try to develop projects, that brings food back to cities.”

Stacked gardens reduce the need to convert forests, savannahs and mangroves and allows used farmland to naturally restore itself. Vertical farms can produce a higher ratio of crop per planted area. The indoor climate of greenhouses protect the food against varying weather conditions and offers different ecosystems for different plants.