Creating Ecosystems

The philosophy of permaculture, first emerging in the 1970s, suggests that the dynamic interactions between humans, plants, soil, and animals create a holistic ecosystem where each element holds equal importance under the values of ‘earth care, people care, and fair share.’ This healthy equilibrium has become out of balance, induced partly by increasingly urban communities where high-rise populations compete for soulless green patches.

Especially in cities, inhabitants are often more detached from the meaning, rhythms, and benefits of nature. Therefore, education on permaculture is vital to the protection of our earth. This is why LAVA’s design for LIFE Hamburg, a future-oriented campus for lifelong, self-determined learning, materializes those values in an educational facility for 800 children and 800 adults, designed in collaboration with Cityplot, an urban agriculture collective that advocates restorative practices in landscape ecology and social systems.

Wrapped up in this design is the collaborative power of permaculture and intergenerational learning, which brings environmental intelligence back to urban communities at all levels of society. For children, learning about the origins of food, identifying plants, insects, and animals to understand their role in the ecosystem, and even digging in the soil can cultivate strong, lasting bonds with the environment; and for older people, gardening outside can encourage activity, increase social connections and improve mental health. In addition, LAVA and Cityplot premeditated how the wider, extended neighborhood could benefit, designing features such as community-facing gardens to welcome them.

This ‘landscape building’ is rooted in the theories of American futurist David Thornburg, who promotes a variety of spatial typologies in an educational context to improve the retention of knowledge, the enhancement of creativity, and the quality of connections. “We combined Thornburg’s differentiative approach with our nature-inspired design approach,” explains Wallisser. “Correspondingly, the central agora, split levels, and spacious staircases linking the two main parts of the building provide fertile ground for conversations beyond classrooms and across age groups inspired by the surroundings.”

Thornburg recognizes three archetypal ‘Cavendish’ learning spaces: the campfire, cave, and watering hole, based upon the acts of collaboration, retreat, and learning, each appealing to the unique traits of individual learning styles. At LIFE Hamburg, expressive classrooms avoid homogeneity with varying levels of brightness, openness, planting, and connections to the exterior framed with environmental counterparts: the ‘mountain peak’ is a place for inspiration, the ‘watering hole’ encourages conversation, ‘sand pits’ invigorate study and experiments; the ‘campfire’ hosts group lectures; while the ‘cave’ cultivates quiet introspection.

Permaculture observes the patterns of nature and society while valuing the importance of diversity for ecosystem strength. This inspired Cityplot to employ a series of biophilic patterns based upon waves, spirals, cells, branches, and nests, informing branching architectural layouts, wave-shaped balconies, and honeycomb ceilings. Rhythm and variation continue with diverse garden typologies and planting systems; a healing garden, a vegetable and fruit patch, a children’s garden, and a ‘kinder garden’ facilitate outdoor lessons, while in balance, other plots prioritize nature, encouraging observation only.