Urban Agroecology for the Zürich Metropolitan Region

Abstract

The Agroecology design studio addresses the challenge of transforming urban agriculture in the Zurich Metropolitan area, to mediate the effects of climate change, to provide local food, to improve biodiversity and to develop new social/governance dimensions of the food system. Agroecology plays a crucial role. The studio will work closely with Grün Stadt Zürich on four selected sites.

Objective

Through participation in the studio, our learning objectives are: -to gain an overview of pioneering practices in agriculture and understand the principles of agroecology -to gain a critical perspective on accepted landscape canons- (in canton Zurich) in particular regarding agriculture -to gain an understanding of the ecological interconnection of a complex range of issues; pollution, climate change, global food chains, biodiversity, use of resources and the interdisciplinary dimension of territorial design. -to synthesise and communicate complex range of issues in a coherent, creative way -to apply the principles of agroecology in design -to design in a reflexive way, utilising and applying political and theoretical dimensions in eh design work where appropriate -to move between scales; micro, mini-region, and macro-scales and understand the critical elements that effect different scales - make a comprehensive representation of their ideas through drawings, video, and present this in a reportage format online. -to learn how to work constructively in a group The Zurich cantonal border corresponds roughly to the commuting space of the metropolitan region, hence the agricultural landscapes are tightly interwoven with expanding urban development. Instead of focusing on the well-studied cities, our studio applies design as an instrument to readdress the territorial subject as a whole and develop an integrated vision for its agroecological transformation. This reversed view lies at the core of the methodology, and an understanding of its critical importance is a key learning objective.

Content

The MAS explores a new role for the designer who repairs damages wrought by urbanisation processes in the previous decades and asks how we can catalyse positive processes of transformation that lead to socially and environmentally just landscapes and territories. The project draws on a wealth of precedents at the Architecture of Territory Chair, and the accompanying lectures, sessions and courses. However an overarching territorial concept for the canton of Zurich, based on agroecological regeneration has never been drawn, visualised or proposed. Together, the four case studies explored during the semester will contribute to such a vision. Using the proposed landscape typology "the Metropolitan Core" as a basis, the studio will closely investigate four exemplary sites of urban agriculture, which partly lie inside the administrative area of Zürich city, and partly outside in traditionally agricultural municipalities that however are now closely connected to the city centre; Urdorf & Uitikon; Uetliberg, Zürichberg, and Dübendorf. By diving deep into these specific landscapes of agricultural production, the studio aspires to raise questions unlocking the transformative potential of reparative thinking and practices in urban and territorial design. Can we rethink social relations linked to the land and define space for solidarity practices in agriculture? Can we redesign the cultural laws leading to commodification of landscape? Can we undo previous industrial practices and models of land drainage and other complex processes? The principles of Agroecology offer an important basis for such a transformation. Not only focusing on food production, Agroecology has been summarised in 10 principles that also include social values and governance. These principles show how the efficiency of food production can be increased through innovative agroecological practices, for example by growing several components instead of practicing monoculture and by recycling or better utilizing natural resources such as nitrogen and reducing waste in the system. Agroecology pays attention to inequalities such as the under-recognised role of women in agriculture and promotes a solidarity economy between producers and consumers. Agroecology is therefore a social project, aiming for equity and justice, as well as an ecological project. The design studio is at the core of the programme–sessions, courses and inputs are curated in such a way as to directly support the design work and project development through interdisciplinary exchange. In addition, significant resources are reserved for field work investigation in this unique studio, which plays a central role within the methodology–design work is based on in-depth exploration of the field and context. We will learn from different practices and engage with both regular and more extreme farmers and pioneers. Mobile and multisited ethnographies, interviews, oral histories, participant observation, visual study and archival work are indispensable to building a body of original research and to gradually formulating the research and design hypotheses in the studio. The fieldwork is generally conducted after the semester’s three-week overture period. It encompasses group and individual visits to project sites, meetings with inhabitants, community organizations and municipal offices. In particular this semester we will cooperate with Grün Stadt Zürich.

Resources