Modern homestead : the elemental farmer and the subversion of the agrarian grid

Abstract

America's Heartland is nearing a state of cardiac arrest. The practice of Industrial agriculture has caused the Central Plains to fail not only environmentally, but socially and economically as well. The problem is not an intrinsically architectural one; but can design, through its practice of rethinking relationships, provide a solution? This thesis is situated on the boundary between Jeffersonian ideals and those of Sustainability. It proposes a linear architecture of synthesis. The final design is a farming infrastructure with the sole purpose of harvesting 'atmospheric crops' such as wind energy, fog, dew and precipitation. Furthermore, new type of farmer is introduced: the Elemental Farmer. His products are precious commodities, and his territory is not bounded by The Grid.