greenhouse and outdoor kitchen pavilion in china bridges the body and land through food

a multifunctional pavilion by office for roundtable & jxy studio

Your Greenhouse Is Your Kitchen is a multifunctional pavilion situated within an urban garden in Guangzhou, China, amalgamating the roles of a greenhouse, an outdoor kitchen, and a living room. Developed by Office for Roundtable and JXY Studio, the architectural device speculates on the medium of food as a catalyst for fostering agricultural and social connections, proposing new forms of domesticity and collective living that bridge the relationships between body, land, and city.

The boundaries and connections between nature and the artifacts are constantly at play in determining the role of the steel pavilion. When enclosed, it serves as a greenhouse, reflecting the change of seasons and the growth of leaves on the translucent exterior; when opened, it transforms into an outdoor living space, encouraging new forms of sharing that conflate everyday activities.

all images by Office for Roundtable

modular elements enable flexibility

The pavilion is characterized by an assembly of modular elements that underscore its inherent simplicity and lightness. Constructed primarily with angle steel and encased in polycarbonate sheets, the pavilion is moderated at varied heights through adjustable cables that stabilize the panels. In its flexibility and indeterminacy, this temporary structure allows for reconfiguration through its movable and operable furniture, animating the surroundings with vegetable growing racks, kitchen counters, and folding tables — all made from the same material palette.

Office for Roundtable (see more here) and JXY Studio (see more here) ensure that the pavilion embodies a microclimate of care for both plants and humans. It fosters the remediation of contaminated soil sourced from the adjacent urban farm, which is stored in portable pots designed for cultivating plants and facilitating the exchange of products among community members. Rainwater, harvested and filtered through the metal reservoir overhead, circulates in the pavilion for gardening and cooking activities. Owing to spatial tactics that mitigate the challenges posed by extreme weather in a subtropical climate — such as strategic gaps between panels for passive cooling — the structure is permeated with proper wind and sunlight that foster a conducive environment for plants, providing the visitors with balanced conditions of ventilation and shading to co-inhabit the space with plants and other species.

developed by Office for Roundtable and JXY Studio

Your Greenhouse Is Your Kitchen emerges as a spatial manifestation of food that proposes new sets of social norms and spatial politics. By facilitating the interplay between farming and preparing food, between delivering and consuming food, and between caring and sharing food, the pavilion is a place to get together on a sunny, breezy afternoon, where the hustles of activities, the shadows of trees, and the silhouettes of birds and other living beings, all slowly blend into the tranquil background of nature, after the last ray of sunlight.

the pavilion is situated in an urban garden in Guangzhou, China

it also functions as an outdoor kitchen that encourages social gathering

doubling as a greenhouse that promotes gardening and farming as a collective activity

constructed with angle steel and encased in polycarbonate sheets, the pavilion is moderated at varied heights

rainwater is harvested and filtered through the metal reservoir overhead

this temporary structure allows for reconfiguration through its movable furniture

contaminated soil collected from the adjacent urban farm, stored in portable pots designed for cultivating plants

the harvested rainwater will also be used to clean produce sourced from the pavilion and for cooking activities

growing racks are mobilized to take advantage of the weather conditions

the filtered rainwater circulates in the pavilion for gardening

project info:

name: Your Greenhouse Is Your Kitchen
architect: Office for Roundtable | @office.roundtable, JXY Studio | @jxy_studio

design team: Leyuan Li, Jiaxun Xu, Yue Xu

location: Guangzhou, China

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom