STUDIO ETH Zürich
Spring 2022

Feminising Agriculture: A Manifesto for a Reproductive Landscape in the WeinlandVasiliki Bali, Georgia Drakou, and Nathalie Peeters

Three daughters take over their father’s farm, the biggest biological farm of Switzerland, and, tired of the masculine and productive world they’ve landed in, wish to transform it. Through the view of a citizen exploring who the future farmer is, the reader stumbles upon a speculative fabulation for a feminine farm combining community values, robots and a regeneration of soil, plants, life. A farm where roles are not determined by gender. Where no farmer risks health issues and care for the body is as important as care for the soil and plants, a philosophy of care that has been lost in the present monocultural agriculture. A farm that opts to move beyond a productive landscape towards a reproductive landscape.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the whole MAS team and especially all the people we interviewed: Antonia Bischof, Michael Frauenfelder, Regina frey, Marc Gerber, David Jacobsen, Manuela Just, Julia Huber, Ruben Keller, Mr. Keller, Marc, Miriam Meier, Thomas Meier, Nick, Prisca Pfammatter, Ralf, Johanna Schaufelberger, Dino Sozzi, Hans Vogel, Andreas Walter and Reto Wipf.

The project texts were developed within the course „Critical Writing“, SS 2022, Dr Nitin Bathla & Dr. Nancy Couling.

Sources

  • Douwe, Van der Ploeg Jan. The Virtual Farmer Past, Present and Future of the Dutch Peasantry. Van Gorcum, 2003.
  • Gruen, L. Toward an ecofeminist moral epistemology. In K.J. Warren (Ed.), Ecological Feminism (pp. 120-138). New York, NY: Routledge. 1994.
  • Haraway, D.J. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (1st ed.). Routledge. 1990.
  • Haraway, Donna J. Staying with the Trouble. Experimental Futures. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 2016.
  • HofNews. (n.d.). BungertHof. Online. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://www.bungerthof.ch/hof/hofnews/.
  • Koolhaas, Rem. Countryside: a report. Cologne: Taschen. 2020.
  • Pfammater, P. Beyond Farming Women, University – Rural Sociology Department. Wageningen https://edepot.wur.nl/557032\. 2021.
  • Pixie. (n.d.). Pixel farming robotics. Online. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://pixelfarmingrobotics.com/nl/pixie-2
  • Rathgeb.Bio | Rohräcker CH-8476 Unterstammheim | knackig, gsund, bio. (n.d.). Rathgeb Bio. Online. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://rathgeb.bio/.
  • Sachs, C. Reconsidering diversity in agriculture and food systems: An ecofeminist approach. Agriculture and Human Values, 9(3). 1992.
  • “Startseite.” 2020. Martella Hof. Online. November 24, 2020. https://www.martella-hof.ch/.
  • “Unsere Partner.” n.d. Gutrheinaus Webseite! Online. https://www.gutrheinau.ch/.

All images are taken by Vasiliki Bali, Georgia Drakou & Nathalie Peeters unless mentioned otherwise.

ETH Zürich D-ARCH

Programme Director
Milica Topalović, Assoc. Professor
Chair of Architecture and Territorial Planinng

Programme Co-ordinator
Dr. Nancy Couling

EPFL ENAC

Programme Director
Paola Viganò, Professor
Habitat Research Center

Programme Co-ordinator
Dr. Tommaso Pietropolli