Future Farm (Der Biohof der Zukunft)
Bachelor-Thesis 2020
Hochschule Wismar, Germany
Task
The production of food has changed significantly in the course of industrialization of agriculture for the global market in recent decades. In order to guarantee low prices, agriculture has increasingly monostructured and specialized. Biodiversity and many associated synergies have been lost. Factory farming associated with economic development is also increasingly criticized and is not sustainable in its current form. More animal welfare in the stables and as few negative environmental impacts as possible are the current challenges for livestock farming.
A whole range of organic producers and farmers have opposed the current development and are striving for a more ecological alternative in agriculture. The companies produce and market their agricultural products under strict conditions. New, more ecological forms of animal husbandry are also being developed, which lead to new requirements in the construction of courtyards and stables.
Agricultural building has changed significantly as a result of the enormous specialization of the companies. The size of a farm and the operational processes have been continuously optimized with the aim of saving costs.
The agricultural buildings offered today under the cost pressure therefore largely correspond to the objectives of industrial agriculture.
The agricultural buildings offered today under the cost pressure therefore largely correspond to the objectives of industrial agriculture.
The building concepts developed from this cannot meet the requirements of alternative production and production of agricultural products and ecological animal husbandry.
New concepts are required which correspond in their conception and construction to the sustainability objectives of the companies.
New concepts are required which correspond in their conception and construction to the sustainability objectives of the companies.
– Extract from the task from 6th March 2020
Just a few hundred meters from the cliffs, between Binz and Sassnitz on the island of Rügen, Northern Germany, a sustainable new organic farm is to be built. The task was announced as a student competition by the farmer family – and won the first price.
It is a very rare piece of architecture to design because building at Rügens coast areas is usually forbidden and the size of the project is quite uncommon for that category of architecture.
In addition to a cattle shed, meadow shelters for 450 sheep, a vehicle hall, a multipurpose building with marketing and processing functions, a residential building and holiday apartments were also to be planned. The animals will be in the stables in winter and on the meadows in summertime, which is when the farm is used for marketing their products and organic fieldwork.
Modernly interpreted roof shapes are reminiscent of traditional courtyards and, in conjunction with the classically formed farmyard, create a transition to the courtyard architecture of the 21st century.
With the new building, the direct marketing at the courtyard is to be strengthened, which is why, in addition to the purely economic usage processes, special attention was paid to the customer experience.
Animal husbandry is subject to maximum transparency, the entire work process is visible and understandable for the customer.
This begins with the transparent stable architecture and the promoted human-animal contact.
The house takes up a traditional geometry and interprets it with modern forms.
