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Learning from chefs: an architectural manifesto

XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2022

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 7p.

Author Varkulja, L.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Article

Category Journal article

Synopsis (short abstract) Could architects embrace other fields to help us reshape our design purposes, considering those as examples on how to preserve resources and produce architecture truly integrated with the environment? Could we learn from food, agricultural producCon, communiCes and chefs? “We decide what we want, and then we demand that the land produce it,” Barber writes in his book “The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food,” when in fact it should really work the other way around (Barber 2014). Most farmers respond to demand, but the dehesa, in southwest Spain, is indeed an example of sustainable agriculture, where farmers operate within the framework of ecology without diminishing the land itself. As Barber says, the system we are accustomed to, where the consumer decides what is for dinner, is “not truly sustainable for any ecology or culture.” Can we say the same about today’s architecture? As ciCes grow, our connecCon to the land will become increasingly complex. Chefs are acCvists, and are talking about ‘contextual ecologies’ that will improve how the land is used and the way that people eat. They are using food to educate people about the environment, acknowledging the importance of ensuring that the whole chain of people, from the farmer to the client, deeply understands the use and preservaCon of the land, in its broader meaning. We, too, have the power to connect people and to embrace approaches Ced to the land in our pracCce. As architects, we have to parCcipate in the process as a whole, understanding where materials come from, how materials are extracted as well as produced, and the social, economical and poliCcal implicaCons of that process, for the community and the environment. We need to beWer connect forestry to pracCce. The invesCgaCon of this learning process allows us to be at the basis of our design process, preparing future professionals to think and build in a more holistic way. Keywords: Amazon rainforest; architecture; extracFon; indigenous people; land ID: 3491952

Language English

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