Superstudio A

.

SUPERSTUDIO DOMESTICATED FOODSCAPES

.

Under the title "DOMESTICATED FOODSCAPES", the Superstudio explores latent perspectives and proactive approaches addressing the pressing environmental concerns of our time. Since our transition from hunters and gatherers, we have continuously modified our environment to ensure a consistent food supply.

Food, more than any other commodity, carries profound territorial and social significance. It has shaped landscapes and cities and delivered a multitude of architectural typologies rooted in the need to rationalise food. However, with the advent of industrialization, these typologies became territorially unbound, as technologies detached them from specific soils, locations, and climates.

Today, food systems are responsible for approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. While assessing these systems, the emphasis is on energy efficiency throughout the stages of production, storage, processing, trade, and consumption. The main focus has shifted from local resources to the global interconnectivity of these systems.

There is an urgent need for action. Relying solely on technological progress to respond to ceaseless consumerism is unlikely to steer us toward a sustainable future. We must reposition the role of architecture within food systems. Moreover, the value of traditional territorial knowledge is as important as understanding the autonomy of industrial systems.

An unbiased outlook on traditional and contemporary approaches as well, can create a ground for a critical methodology and unveil the potential of architecture in the nowadays crucial discourse around sustainability and climate change.

During the Fall semester of 2023, our research will spotlight architectures used for the HARVEST and STORAGE of food, while next year will focus on DISTRIBUTION and DIGESTION.

HARVEST AND STORAGE starts with an experimental assignment to explore the intricacy between resource utilization, food quality, and identity. Furthermore, a collection of data will offer an overview of historical evolution, territorial significance, volume of production, and global network. ‚The second objective will involve research and precise analysis of architectural structures designated for food harvest and storage.

The research will be done in groups of 3-5 researchers, each group is focusing on one type of food. This and the choice of a cultivation technique (such as planting, drying, fermenting, storing, etc.) allow the research groups to explore the architectural limits of domesticating the food.

Continuous theoretical input is ensured through 3 forums, observing and logging the experiment and self-study of sources. The intermediate results are discussed and questioned in 3 public roundtable presentations with students and team members of the Superstudio. The final presentation of the results will take place within the framework of a joint exhibition.

.

FORUMS

.

The studio rhythm will be marked by three important forums that will provide an substantial theoretical input. These forums provide a base for the theoretical background of Superstudio and are constituted by lectures, debates and presentations. Students will actively engage, continually positioning themselves in relation to the topics presented and their own research.

Forum 1. FOCUS: Introduction from relationships to focus, global positioning, contextual recognition, and deliberation on food types.

Forum 2. EXPERIMENT: Showcasing and discussing experimental case studies and practical reports.

Forum 3. PISTIS: Workgroup dialogues. A student-led debate and oratory platform for research status exchanges.

.

SUPERSTUDIO EXHIBITION

.

The final output, usually presented as "final crits" will take the form of a public exhibition and an exhibition opening. The aim is to present the work "beyond the studios" in order to confront the students to a professional context of presenting a research work within a creative milieu. The highlight will be the conclusion of the experiment with a joint meal of DOMESTICATED FOODSCAPES.

The show will compile and present in a coherent and precise way an exhaustive documentation of the research process.

At the end of the course, students must be able to demonstrate their abilities to conduct a full prospective research and present it in an exhibition and oratory mode.