CHAIR OF ARCHITECTURE
AND URBAN DESIGN —
PROF. KEES CHRISTIAANSE

TEACHING

ELECTIVE COURSE HS12 AGRICULTURE IN TRANSITION

Protagonists of the Kulturlandschaft

Agriculture in Transition 

Elective Course | Prof. Kees Christiaanse, H. Disch, M. Wagner

Thursdays, 16.00-18.00 pm, HIL H 40.4 Plaza

Introduction Session: 20th. September 2012

37 percent of the surface in Switzerland is being used for agriculture. 3.6 billions Swiss francs of tax revenues are spent yearly in agriculture. 23 percent of constructions are outside of building zones, in rural communities and cantons even more than 40 percent. They are (or were meant to be) reserved for 'agricultural and market gardening activities'.

The conflicting use of the territory between residential areas, mobility, agriculture, recreational activities, forestry and energy production are increasing. Not only in cities, but also in large parts of rural areas, life is becoming increasingly urbanized. Prosperity, demographic and socioeconomic change as well as the globalization are leaving their marks in the supposedly idyllic rural homeland.

In this elective course "Agriculture in Transition" we will examine the current situation of farmers, taking into account spatial and urban-planning criteria: with the help of maps, interviews, photos and diagrams we will, in groups of two students, document, characterize and analyze the socioeconomic interaction and the spatial ramifications of agricultural land use.

The aim of this elective course is to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary spatial interactions in the domain of agricultural use of the land. A collection of portraits of all the examined farms should arise and will be the summary of all works. Subsequent to the semester there is the opportunity to delve deeper into this subject, within the framework of our main research Kulturlandschaft, as a free elective work. 

Kontakt Michael Wagner