BUILDING COMMON GROUND

Throughout the years, the environment surrounding us has undergone rapid changes. Many of the places we once knew only live on in our memories. The significant challenges that are confronting the world today are demanding even more drastic transformations. The pressing question is how we can navigate these changes without relinquishing our connection to our past. Change is an inherent aspect of human existence, and as we look at the generations before us, we can draw inspiration by the resilience they showed. It is the art of evolving while maintaining an awareness of our identity and environment.

The genesis of the project lies in a childhood memory. A place so transformed over the years, that it is scarcely recognizable. Going back to the area where my grandparents once had a horticultural farm, I encountered a landscape drastically altered by large-scale developments. Divided by railroads and highways, the land that once was rich in cultural landscape and rural heritage now hosts generic industrial structures, erasing much of our predecessors' existence. The land, once teeming with forests, arable land and pastoral scenes, now merely consists of asphalt and anonymous boxes. The social and ecological fabric of the area are profoundly disrupted. How can we build on common ground with respect to local culture and nature?

The project unfolds in two distinct phases. First, the area’s transformation is reconstructed, charting the shifts in the landscape and the evolution of rural architecture over time. Through this process, the underlying structures and shared values of the former countryside emerge, showing a strong relationship with the environment and a highly developed ecological awareness. Following the metaphorical clean slate, these valuable characteristics have mainly vanished, fracturing the bond between humanity and its local surroundings.

The second phase of the project pivots towards regenerating these forgotten values, endeavoring to strengthen social, cultural, and ecological ties. At the plot where my grandparents' lost farm once was, a regenerative urban farm takes root, blending traditional and contemporary functionality. This multifunctional structure encompasses residences for future farmers, production facilities such as a workshop and bakery, educational spaces for teaching and sharing knowledge, and recreational areas such as a tasting room and atelier. It uses the unused vacant pieces of land, considering them as common ground, for reintroducing cultural landscape elements. As the farm gradually grows into the area, it shares a holistic philosophy based on an environmental consciousness. Grounded in vernacular, repurposed and contemporary materials and techniques, the urban farm serves as a beacon of change fostering communal reconnection, and nurturing the revival of local culture and ecology.