Beschreibung
des Entwurfs-programmes |
“What on earth shall I do?”
Johanna Spyri, Heidi
Are you following the cottagecore trend? This TikTok aesthetic romanticises rural living, old-fashioned simplicity, and a deep connection with nature. It portrays rural life as remote and private. We understand the appeal of it, the “desire to live in a world outside the one currently inhabited.”(1) But, which desires are beneath these trends? Is it a reaction to the pandemic or an escape from the accelerating pace of modern urban life? However, this tendency is not necessarily novel. It could be seen as a further iteration of different movements across Europe since industrialization, such as the Arts and Crafts, Heimatschutz Bewegung or Heimatstil.
Switzerland’s identity has been shaped by rural life. It has branded itself as a pastoral arcadia. The country often appears in depictions of idealised rural villages and lifestyles. Its collective mental image has been shaped over centuries by numerous books, films and other pop cultural expressions that reinforce and perpetuate the image of an idyllic Alpine country, from Heidi and Disney to chocolate and its architectural style export, the Swiss chalet.
Today, the Swiss population is urban. Almost three-quarters of the people live in urban areas, and around 80% of the country's economic activity is concentrated there, one of the highest rates in the OECD. Nearly half of the population, however, would prefer living in the countryside. We believe these trends are to be taken seriously. In times of climatic and social breakdowns, isolation, and an accelerated demand for resources and rest, there might be something to learn from the rural.
Historically, the Alpine territory has been, and still is, a crossroad for flows of goods, seasonal workers, tourists, capital, transhumant shepherds, migrants and many others. The seemingly solid land is, in fact, porous. Its quality and potential lie here. To make these contrasts visible and productive, we will embrace movement as a method and physically engage with lived realities. We want to confront the “othered” countryside by getting closer, immersing ourselves.
We will start from the cliché by visiting picture-perfect villages that symbolize the stereotypical, archaic version of Switzerland: no signs of urbanisation, actively preserved and staged as a scenography of the rural. We will follow these dreams, trace them in history and popular culture, try to understand them. We want to strip them of their superficiality and distil the underlying desires. We will then accompany everyday experts and get knee-deep into their realities. From here, a New Landlust can take shape.
The semester will take place between chosen rural sites and the Design in Dialogue Lab at ONA, which will act as a place for reporting, reflecting, confronting, and eventually becoming a laboratory for new ruralities. |
Lernziele |
TRANSFORMATION
Develop an understanding of complex spatial transformation processes and their implications for human and non-human entities.
FIRST PERSON ACTION
Engage with a given site through a 1:1 approach. First-person research consists of carefully listening and understanding a set of relevant actors for a given ecosystem.
CRITICALITY
Acquire critical thinking tools and an understanding of current discourses concerning issues such as the dichotomy between the urban and the rural, contemporary ecological thought, spaces for communal living and political expression, gender and postcolonial theory. Develop language and communication tools that allow for precise argumentation and positioning.
REPRESENTATION
Develop design tools and strategies to articulate agency, intervene within the entanglement of space actors and relations, and stimulate change. Find powerful, precise and adequate means of representing the work through different media. Curate and present the outcome meaningfully so that it acquires an agency of its own.
COLLECTIVITY
Contribute to establishing a vivid and stimulating collaborative studio culture. Learn how to take part and communicate in collective debates and discussions. Bring forward ideas, suggestions and inputs to the group. Take responsibility for organising collective studio endeavors, such as the reading club, collective lunches and the Rural Dialogues. |
