BIArch Journal

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Productive Land Program

MBIArch Notes

The recently concluded Productive Land Program (PLP) is a design lab from the cross-curricular portion of the MBIArch curriculum which focuses on the analysis and proposal of new possibilities for the productive and energetic capacities of rural sites, with the intention of making them economically and socially sustainable within metropolitan areas.
 
The Productive Land Program (PLP) began with an immersion exercise after a brief introduction of the objectives and concepts behind PLP. Students were asked to research and expose a project located in their respective countries that exemplified the ideas they had just been presented. As students were not entirely familiar with the PLP concept, there were a variety of proposals. Some understood from the beginning, while others needed more time to give in to an unknown terrain away from the usual praxis.
 
    
Photo by Andrés Flajszer, view the full set here
 
The research trip across rural Catalonia which was taken mid-workshop marked a turning point. Visits to productive programs such as vineyards, co-ops, rice paddies and greenhouses, along with discussions and field work dismissed any remaining doubts. As students began to realize, non urban spaces are full of possibilities without having to forgo their original character. The proposal and challenge of the PLP was to come up with an idea (the program), build an argument (the strategy) and realize its physical shape in a real place (the project): a leap in the dark in less than ten days. 
 

Photo by Andrés Flajszer, view the full set here
 
Strong ideas appeared– some more risky, others more conservative –but all of which presented a renewed approach to the way of looking at a particular territory, and possibilities for proceeding. Innovative approaches were exemplified through a variety of proposals: introducing participatory-process philosophy into traditional farming, looking for synergies with nearby urban elements, multiple combinations of technology, and farming and tourism as a way to solve existing environmental problems.


Photo by Timothy Brennan
 
The work process was intense while the ideas were solidified- when strategy and project merged. Proposals, drawings and graphics began to take shape and students took on the role of entrepreneur, making almost anything possible. The final jury included a strong display of suggestive projects; a moment for students to defend their proposals and be convincing. The guests invited to participate in the jury had a variety of backgrounds, raising doubts and debate which only enriched the students work. The jury came to a shared conclusion: the value of rethinking traditional approaches to non urban spaces.
 
-María Buhigas, Marc Montlleó and Anna Viader
Adjunt Professors, Productive Land Program

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