Rethinking Farming

Les Fermes Urbaines brings a module of innovative and sustainable living to the forefront of one of Paris’s emerging neighborhoods, Paris Rive Gauche. The project is a social and low-income housing complex that sits on a 2,700 square meter lot adjacent to an assortment of building types including the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterrand, waterfront bars on the Seine, offices and businesses lining the avenue de France, and much more. As the vast planning of the mixed-use district of Paris Rive Gauche unfolds, Les Fermes Urbaines reiterates that goal to provide versatility of living at a different scale: combining farming and housing within today’s/tomorrow’s “city”.

The measure of a great city is its capacity to nurture a broad range of social and economic opportunities to provide a framework for flourishing. A leading issue which engages how architects evolve their current understanding on what is seen as ‘the city’ is population control. The urgency of this matter is noted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization stating, “in order to feed this larger [2050 projected population:9.1 billion], more urban and richer population, food production … must increase by 70%”. As a housing community, Les Fermes Urbaines combats the negatives of the modern city sprawl and population boom by bringing the components such as farming directly to local urban dwellers. Despite the term ‘sprawl’, cities more so draw in people rather than physically expand themselves. Doing so over the past half century, the city has struggled to retain what once was suitable conditions. The population in urban settings since 1960 has imploded¬¬ by more than 400% while rural populations have only increased by 70%. This leads to Les Fermes Urbaines’s objective to increase food production in an alternative and more sustainable manner implemented directly among an urban setting.

As large scale farming manufacturers absorb their smaller competitors, Les Fermes Urbaines provides an opportunity to give back to small scale farming by introducing aquaponic agriculture. Intended to be a module for future sources of food and living, this project utilizes today’s technologies to reimagine what was once thought solely rural and implement it throughout tomorrow’s cities. Les Fermes Ubaines tackles something common to all humans … food.