AGRIVISIONS - Architectural Visions for Agricultural Transition in Europe

AGRIVISIONS
Architectural Visions for Agricultural Transition in Europe

AGRIVISIONS is a research-by-design studio dedicated to the issues of ecological transition in agriculture, with a focus on the Walloon cattle-raising and dairy sectors.

The farmers' protests held during the 2023-24 winter have revealed the tensions between the means at hand and the costs of the transition objectives – reductions of greenhouse emissions, of phytosanitary products, of herds, of monoculture – set by the EU for 2050. Within this frame, neither the spatial nor the functional constraints or opportunities offered by agricultural architectures are being considered as a potential leverage.

"Europe" and "Agriculture" are two recurring notions within the architectural debate which are seldom linked to one another. Still, agricultural policy has been and remains one of the major foundations of the European construct, and any architectural project is an opportunity to question top-down and ungrounded policies in the face of a given, situated and personified place. AGRIVISIONS occupies this neglected space, taking stock of the geographical vicinity of European institutions and the recent renewal of both the European Parliament and Commission (2024-29).

Following the last major phase of agricultural modernisation (the postwar boom), a lasting gap has grown between agriculture and architecture. Unable to compete with the benefits of industrialisation of both production and farming facilities, architecture has been sidelined from the agricultural sector. Today, as climate change and the many shortcomings of dominant production models place agriculture under increasing pressure, farmers and experts are focusing on gradual, limited and palliative innovations. Hence, there is still room for a reflexive effort aimed at sketching out new visions that are equal to the challenges at stake.

Finally, as both experts and citizens/consumers, we are all too often underequipped to find our bearings in a debate whose terms and values stand beyond our understanding or appear irrevocably conflicting. Family farming vs. corporate farming? Indebtedness vs. lock up of capital? Dependency to industry vs. limited revenue? Internal vs. international competition? Food sovereignty vs. global markets? Large result networks vs. local supply chain? Conventional vs. organic farming? European institutions vs. local authorities? Animal vs. vegetal proteins?

AGRIVISIONS raises the following question: what are the possible contributions of architects / of architectural design to the public debate and to the envisioning of potential responses to these stakes?

[day-to-day working language: French / B1-level in English expected / Erasmus students welcome]

Teaching team:

• Axel Fisher (T1+T2)
• Gregorio Carboni Maestri (T1)
• Johnny Leya (T2)