— Brainport Smart District, Eindhoven
Harvest Haven
Architecture for Living Ecosystems.
Nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Awards 2025
Developed within the Brainport Smart District masterplan by UNStudio, Harvest Haven explores circularity as a driving architectural and urban principle. The project investigates new spatial typologies that challenge conventional models of housing, food production, and community infrastructure.
Following an in-depth analysis of the masterplan, the proposal was further developed through collaborative research conducted in Amsterdam alongside UNStudio. A specific site within the district was selected, leading to the development of a comprehensive architectural program aligned with the sustainability ambitions of the masterplan.
Project description
Harvest Haven reinterprets the traditional greenhouse by integrating it with residential architecture to create a hybrid environment for living, research, and food production. The project explores how sustainable agricultural systems can become embedded within everyday urban life, allowing living, producing, storing, and selling to coexist within a single architectural framework.
The building combines residential units, laboratories, communal spaces, and productive landscapes within a cohesive spatial system. Conceived as a living laboratory for agricultural experimentation, the project promotes a “learning by doing” approach that activates public space and encourages community engagement.
Spatially, the project is organized through a dynamic sectional strategy that generates terraces, double-height spaces, and large internal voids. This configuration enhances environmental performance, strengthens visual connectivity, and establishes a continuous relationship between interior programs, public space, and the surrounding landscape.
