Perma.Cult // young and old growing together

Bauhaus University (BUW), Faculty of Architecture, Weimar, Germany

Project idea

Build with us, Chemnitz!

Healthy city? - perma.kult creates new green spaces for EVERYONE in Chemnitz, becoming a sustainable showcase for permaculture cultivation
in an aging and car-dominated city.

Barrier-free accessible markets, workshops, and open spaces invite elderly, disabled, or young people to participate in a community project at their own pace, ability, or condition.

Project description

As a new space for therapy, inclusion, and learning, it not only teaches ecological production scenarios but also becomes a hub for knowledge transfer between the young and old.

In the digital age, elderly people can share old recipes and cultivation methods with the younger generation directly at the garden beds and kitchen of the market hall, where they harvest, cook, and eat together.

This fosters new perspectives on food, nutrition, cultivation, and healthy living, demonstrating the potential of unused spaces in shrinking cities and how these areas can be repurposed in socially relevant and inclusive ways.

Technical information

The perma.module, made from recycled old bicycles with Euro pallets on railway tracks, facilitates transport and mobility for sowing, harvesting, and selling.

The perma.train establishes an inner-city "organic fruit and vegetable delivery service," distributing healthy food throughout the city.
In collaboration with the food cells of Chemnitz, surpluses are outsourced to neighborhoods, spreading the perma.kult concept to the surrounding areas.

Urban gardening is reshaped in the holistic permaculture context, creating space for observation, participation, exchange, and mutual learning.

Documentation

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