Eleni Papaevangelou
Architectural Engineering
NURTURE. RESEARCH. HARVEST. REPEAT: The Kruytgebouw as a biodiversity open lab-farm-hub
The deprivation and loss of biodiversity is one of the most alarming environmental problems, threatening precious ecosystems and human welfare. The new Hugo R. Kruytgebouw acts as an incubator for a diversity of people and building-reliant animals and introduces a pristine lab-farm-hub model for their co-existence and collaboration. The modular cliff biotope allows nesting and foraging opportunities for the fauna while allowing unlimited ever-changing layout combinations.
Ethical guano, feather, worm and insect farms justify nature inclusivity in the built environment and encourage public engagement & biodiversity conservation. By nurturing the local animals, the building can provide real-time scientific research and valuable feedback for future biodiversity designs. The new modular façade advocates nature inclusivity and circularity, and it serves as a place for discussion, interaction and testing of new materials and ecological processes.
Animal and human co-existence is a win-win that can potentially transform Utrecht University’s campus into a living lab.