Our Favourite living architecture

We’re always interested to see how architecture and the buildings around us incorporate elements of the natural world.

The theme of ‘living architecture’ is an interesting one and certainly sparked some discussions within the team. It’s been really interesting to see what everyone has chosen.

What does living architecture mean to you?

Image: Michael Freisager

MFO Park, Zurich – Burckhardt + Partner and Raderschallpartner

I really like scaffolding. Especially plants growing all over scaffolding, forming small quiet rooms either side of one massive central ‘hall’. It’s so simple and pleasant, at least in the photos. [Liam]

Image: Dezeen

Stacking Green, Ho Chi Minh City – Vo Trong Nghia Architects

There’s some really interesting living architecture coming out of Vietnam at the moment. I spied another building by this architect when I was in Hanoi a few years ago and it really stood out amongst the generic buildings either side. I really like the simplicity of the white horizontal bands paired with the vibrancy of the plants. It creates a simple but interesting facade and some really interesting interior spaces. [Alan]

Image: Arup

Hi-fy, New York (temporary installation) – The Living

Hi-fy is a 12m tall tower constructed from mushroom bricks – microscopic fungi fibres (mycelium) bound with corn stalks. The design by The Living, with structural engineering by Arup, was installed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York for their 2014 summer program. The same material has also been used as a packaging material, takes only 5 days to grow, requires no energy input and produces no waste or carbon emissions, and can be composted fully once it is no longer required. In 2018 a team of UK researchers won an award for the development of mycelium building insulation – with smaller mycelium products already available, perhaps this will soon be an option for the buildings we design. [Claire]

Image: Latz+Partner

The Landscape Park Duisburg Nord, Germany – Latz + Partner

Latz + Partner have transformed what was an old, furnace plant into a public park where the existing fragments and patterns of industrial architecture have been interwoven with nature. I love the contrast between the rusted material of the framework with the greenery of the trees, which will only get stronger as time goes on; the old structure will continue to erode while the garden grows. [Mo]

Image: Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology, Netherlands – Mecanoo

This is one of the first buildings that sticks in my mind as having a green roof actually being used and enjoyed by people. [Jess]

Image: Rowa Lee

The High Line, New York – New York City Department of Parks & Recreation & Friends of the High Line

I suppose this was my first ever interaction with living architecture. I visited in 2009 when the first part of The High Line had just opened. It was yet to fully bloom into what it is now, but even back then there was a sense of something truly special developing. [Fera]

Image: ArchDaily

Veg Village – Sir Peter Cook

I’ve always found Peter Cook’s theoretical work more interesting than his built projects. He presented this project in a guest lecture when I was a student in the late 90s and it immediately sprang to mind. This is less Architecture with things growing on it; more Architecture that is grown. This developed from a single house (Veg House) to a whole settlement. It wasn’t necessarily meant as a great place to live; “the edge of the tolerable, the almost unthinkable is being toyed with.” [Paul]