Cultivating the Concrete Jungle: How Photographer Liz Eve Captured Berlin’s Hidden Permaculture Oasis

Main Facts

For over a decade, architectural photographer Liz Eve trained her lens on the built environment, capturing the hard lines and structural frameworks that define modern human habitation for agencies like Fotohaus. Yet, amidst steel, glass, and concrete, Eve quietly sensed an omission in her frame. The missing piece was not architectural, but ecological: a living, breathing, edible ecosystem.

That realization culminated in Botanico: A Year in the Food Forest, a sprawling, 252-page compendium of photography, essays, personal stories, traditional recipes, and permaculture methodologies. Documenting Café Botanico—a working, organic permaculture garden discreetly tucked behind a residential apartment block in Berlin’s historic Rixdorf district—the book serves as both an art object and an educational manual.

Rather than relying on traditional publishing houses, Eve independently crowdfunded the first edition of the book on the German platform Startnext, designing it during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the volume has transcended its origins as a passion project; it is utilized as an active onboarding tool by the café’s staff to train new employees on local flora and sustainable harvesting. Following the release of the book, Eve completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Sustainability and Adaptation, cementing her transition from capturing physical structures to investigating the deeper human and governance systems that drive ecological change.

Chronology

The Decade of Observation (2010s)

Liz Eve spent more than ten years operating as an architectural photographer. Working extensively with Fotohaus, she photographed buildings across Europe while simultaneously contributing articles on urban ecology and sustainable architecture to outlets like Inhabitat. Her professional and creative trajectory was marked by a growing fascination with how human populations interact with natural environments.

The Discovery of Rixdorf (2020)

Having recently completed a permaculture design course, Eve stumbled across Café Botanico—a 1,000-square-meter hidden garden in Berlin’s Rixdorf neighborhood. Recognizing that the space defied quick documentation, she committed to visiting the garden across all four seasons. Over the course of a full year, she immersed herself in the rhythms of the ecosystem, building trust with the site’s caretakers—including founder Martin Höfft—and capturing the cyclical evolution of an urban food forest.

Lockdown, Design, and Crowdfunding (2020–2022)

Confined during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eve turned her vast archive of seasonal photography and research into a structured book design project. Collaborating remotely with her brother, Tim, and his partner, Victoria—both visual designers—she structured the 252-page book to mimic the layered stratification of a natural woodland. To finance the high-cost production of a full-color, self-published photo book, she launched a campaign on Startnext, successfully validating market demand through community-backed funding.

Academic Evolution and Current Ventures (2022–Present)

Following the publication of Botanico, Eve pursued and completed an MSc in Sustainability and Adaptation. Her academic research focused on the motivational drivers of historic building owners regarding climate action. Currently, she divides her time between sustainability communications, writing her newsletters (Liz Eve Adapts and Regenerative Futures), and conceptualizing new urban regeneration projects inspired by the principles of slowness and ecological connection.

Supporting Data & Project Metrics

• Scope of the Book: Botanico: A Year in the Food Forest spans 252 pages of curated photography, narrative essays, recipes, and permaculture design frameworks.
• The Setting: Café Botanico operates within a 1,000-square-meter urban plot hidden behind a residential facade in Berlin, functioning as a working permaculture system and food forest.
• Professional Background: Eve brings over 10 years of commercial architectural photography experience with Fotohaus to her fine-art and documentary work.
• Academic Research: Her postgraduate thesis investigated the human and governance variables that influence climate adaptation decisions among owners of legacy and historical buildings.
• Digital Outreach: Eve documents her ongoing research and thoughts on urban ecology through two primary Substack publications: Liz Eve Adapts and Regenerative Futures.

Official Insights & Philosophy

In reflections on her journey from architecture to urban ecology, Eve emphasizes that her career path represents a conceptual "zoom out" rather than an abrupt pivot. Both her architectural photography and her documentation of the Berlin food forest investigate the same fundamental question: how humans inhabit space and relate to living systems.

On the Necessity of Time

Discussing her decision to spend an entire year documenting Café Botanico, Eve notes that permaculture design philosophy advises observers to study a landscape for a full annual cycle before attempting to alter it.

"A food forest is designed to develop over decades—it mimics the succession patterns of a natural woodland, with different layers doing different work at different times," Eve explains. "A shorter visit would have given me beautiful images of a moment. A year gave me seasons: the dying back, the unexpected abundance, the way the people who tend it relate differently to the place in winter or summer."

On the Tactile Nature of Print

When asked why she bypassed a purely digital or screen-based presentation in favor of a physical book, Eve pointed to the intrinsic tangibility of permaculture.

"Permaculture is so tactile. It’s about soil, life, and the feel of a place," she remarks. "There’s also something about the permanence of print that felt right for a project rooted in long-term thinking. A food forest is an investment in time. A book honors that in a way a feed of images doesn’t."

On Design Structure

Eve structured Botanico using the core organizational layers found in natural food forests. By separating the material into visual layers (wide landscapes, intimate close-ups, and portraits), narrative layers (history, community philosophy), and practical layers (methods, recipes), she created a reading experience that mirrors the spatial organization of a permaculture garden.

Implications

Liz Eve’s transition from documenting static architecture to chronicling dynamic, living ecosystems holds significant implications for urban planners, environmental communicators, and independent creators alike.

Redefining Urban Spaces

As cities face accelerating climate pressures and the heat-island effect, the integration of edible polycultures and permaculture systems into metropolitan spaces offers a viable pathway toward urban resilience. Projects like Café Botanico demonstrate that underutilized urban plots—such as interior courtyards and abandoned lots—can be transformed into productive, biodiverse habitats that provide both food security and community connection.

The Power of Slow Communication

In an era dominated by high-frequency digital media and instantaneous consumption, Eve’s commitment to a year-long observational timeline challenges modern creative workflows. By embedding herself within a community long enough for subjects to "forget the camera is there," she produced a document of profound authenticity. This methodology highlights the necessity of slow, patient engagement when addressing complex socio-ecological challenges.

Democratizing Publishing Through Crowdfunding

The success of Botanico via the Startnext platform illustrates the viability of alternative publishing models for niche, high-integrity environmental projects. By validating audience demand before committing to a costly print run, independent artists and researchers can bypass traditional publishing gatekeepers while simultaneously cultivating a dedicated, invested community of early supporters. Ultimately, Eve’s work proves that thoughtful documentation can inspire tangible grassroots action—encouraging urban dwellers to look closer at their environments, plant localized food sources, and reimagine the ecological potential of the cities they call home.