Reviving the Rural

Abstract

Events of recent years highlighted the need and the urgency for increased local and regional resilience. 83% of the total EU area considered ‘rural’ will play a vital role in this challenging transition. Those areas not only present a massive opportunity in producing bio-based circular materials for the new economy at scale but also offer a rich body of knowledge and unique cultural experiences available to many.

While facing interlinked problems of soil degradation, ageing and declining population and lack of diverse economic opportunities, rural areas desperately need new models of living – inspiring optimism and stimulating long-term social and economic perspectives.

The project investigates the evolution of the Polish countryside settlements from early-capitalist through socialist to late-capitalist models. While deducting that the ways of organising territory are always closely tied and shaped by socio-economic climate, it poses a question of what the countryside could be like as we shift towards a circular economy.

Complemented by focused thematic research investigating how timber tectonic language is shaped by advancements in manufacturing processes and design workflows, the project analyses those findings in light of local forestry and manufacturing potential. It explores careful adaptive reuse paired with a more industrialised way of producing quality housing while returning to locally sourced pine as the primary construction material.

The result is a revitalisation strategy model proposing a re-development of former State-Owned Farm typologies - once popularised around Germany and Western Poland - now often abandoned; they present a unique opportunity to revive the rural areas while helping already established communities.

Proposal located in Budachów village in Western Poland explores an innovative model of regenerative communal living combining housing for seniors, permanently occupying the site, with a rich educational, cultural and touristic programme for visitors in areas of local expertise in permaculture and dining.

Circl – Centre for Innovation in Regenerative Communal Living – aspires to create a wide range of new economic opportunities for the area while providing much-needed housing for seniors and more responsible food production and resource management models. By combining physical interventions with smart sensors - measuring and optimising consumption and local production of resources – such neighbourhoods could develop their digital twins helping us to better understand and predict our impact on the 83% of the land that sustains us. If applied at scale, the model envisions a more locally produced, globally-connected, economically competitive and self-sufficient future for the countryside in a circular economy