THE YIN & YANG OF IT ALL

Penda’s Austrian studio is working on the design of a small residence in the German countryside, titled Yin & Yang House. Located near the city of Kassel, the property has been imagined for a small family that wants to live off-grid. Consequently, the design team, led by Chris Precht, is transforming the roof of the structure into a vegetable, herb, and fruit garden that will ensure the home owners are food-independent. 

“Whenever architects design a building, they take an area away that used to belong to nature,” said Penda. “We try to give this space back to plants on the roof. At the same time, we provide a gardening-system for the owners with greenhouses in winter and rows of planters for the rest of the year.”

Penda’s design is defined by two separate entities that are harmoniously connected with a green roof. As with a yin and yang sign the two main areas of the house are intertwined — one half for living, the other for working. The two roofs surround the garden, channelling rainwater to the ground where it is stored and reused on dry days to irrigate the plants. Designed for all senses, the house has its own natural scent that emanates from the plants growing on the roof. 

“My wife Fei and I are also living in a small house in a rural area of Austria, and the biggest advantage of the countryside is the quality of life,” says Precht. “Especially when it comes to growing your own food.”

“Growing your own herbs, vegetables and fruits changes our relationship to food,” says Fei Tang. “In our garden, we try to grow as much of our daily nutrition as somehow possible. The vegetables might not look as perfect as the ones from the supermarkets, but they sure taste better and are more nutritious. And most importantly you know what you eat and taste the work and love that comes from your own garden. Real food becomes part of your identity. The same way that architecture does. To combine both in one harmonious design, gives a poetic image for a small plot on the countryside.”

“After decades of unsustainable food production and food supply by industrial agriculture, we are slowly learning about the costs of health for our bodies and the biosphere caused by this system,” commented Penda. “The key for an ecological food-cycle is to grow and eat local products. Even better: to grow food by and for your own family or community. Food is a common good and should not be owned by a handful of cooperations. If we work on food-strategies and food-independencies for our communities, we believe that architects and their buildings need to play an important role.”