Precht identifies as “a creative studio in the mountains powered by nature” and indeed, the Austrian architectural firm’s portfolio of work does exhibit a refreshing holistic dedication to designing structures not only informed by nature, but in service of its incorporation into ecosystems. One of their recent projects aims high to deliver the farm-to-table ethos right up to the city skyline.
Fashioned after the traditional A-Frame houses, structural support and shape is delivered by three layers of walls. The inside layer is finished and houses electricity and pipes, the middle layer contains structure and insulation, with the gardening elements and water supply housed with a third outside layer.
While modern multi-story architecture purporting dedication to ecologically informed design are numerous, the majority of these efforts result in merely superficial applications maintaining the precedence of structural over environment, with greenery serving mostly as aesthetic window dressing. Precht flips this script with The Farmhouse, a prefabricated, modular system that reimagines the high-rise as a vertical and lateral system for living and growing.
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. ...