“From Roots to Crowns“ describes the vertical metamorphosis of a hybrid building, moving from below ground through fields and trunks up to the crowns. It is a living shell on the move, able to take on 3 main positions „under the earth“(-1), „on the fields“ (0) and „in the tree crowns“ (+1+2). The lifting house is a visionary way of adapting the concept of „living and working in nature“ to the varying requirements of its inhabitants.
The large central patio allows the boundaries between inside and outside to disappear, functioning as a visual and physical connector between the different areas. Furthermore the patio, balconies, glazed interiors, swimming lake and roof-scape create introverted and extroverted spaces, allowing the inhabitants to hide or to expose the building and the life inside it.
The building adapts to the different situations and requirements throughout the day, seasons and years, thus creating a sustainable way of living and working inside nature. The plan layout follows a modular concept of easily switching various spacial combinations by emphasizing the wish of its creators to enhance a simple yet radical desire: „…it doesn’t matter where you work, sleep, eat, play…as long as you can do it everywhere.“
„under the earth“ it hides below ground, blending into the surrounding landscape, protecting, disappearing, contextualizing…
„on the field“ at ground level, the building is directly connected to the surrounding landscape, integrating, blurring…
while „in the trees“ it radically sits among tree crowns, offering views of the Edersee, simultaneously revealing the swimming lake below, flying, soulseeking…
Its main focus lies on vertical and horizontal flexibility, expressed externally through the vertical movement and internally through an open plan layout.