Cohabitation by ManonVandommeleKUL

Cohabitation between humans and animals

Horse and goat grazing near humans in field Solange CABE

Abstract

The notion of movement is the trigger for this project to understand animal behavior in their habitat but also with humans. In the case of this project, a community of 13 members will live in close relationship with animals : goats and mares. Nowadays, animals are used mainly for the products they provide us with and their well-being has little importance in this process. The environment in which they live is only taken into account in order to maximize the efficiency of the production. For this project, I analyzed the living space of the animals and more particularly their movements within their housing. We quickly notice that each animal lives relatively enclosed in a small space and their movements are very restricted. The goal is therefore to put forward the well-being of animals and people living in this farm and to offer them welcoming and pleasant living spaces. A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) system links the community and consumers more closely to the food system by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the farm’s milk harvest. Any outsider will have the opportunity to come directly to harvest the goat or mare’s milk and actively participate in the operation of the farm while creating a social exchange with the community. The farm in which this program is applied is located on the grounds of a greenhouse in Ranst, a small village near Antwerp. This farm will host a community of people who have experienced psychological trauma. Through its spatial organization, the farm offers the inhabitants comforting spaces where each one benefits from both private spaces and common spaces where sharing can take place. The notion of movement is also very important for these people who, with the necessary time required, can use the interactions with other members and the animals as restorative elements in their healing process. Animals play an important role in the healing process through their social contact with humans and the relationships they create. The concept of movement is not limited to the farm itself. The path leading to the farm also gives access to another glass house inhabited by people who have also experienced trauma. A close collaboration is set up between the two farms, both inhabited by different kinds of animals. One will produce cheeses and milk, and the other eggs and vegetables, which will then be sold in a small store located in an existing house along the path. The farm animals can use this path to move between the farms. The communities will use a shared water tank, which in turn will provide them with water to maintain the food and animals on the farm. The architectural interventions revolve around the notion of movement and more specifically the collaboration between humans and animals. The existing greenhouse is originally very large, part of the structure is preserved, consolidated and completed with a new skin allowing different levels of transparency to accentuate the close relationship between the community members and the animals. Bedrooms, common spaces and animal shelters are merged into one building. The ground floor is primarily occupied by the animal habitats and the different common spaces for the community. Wooden slatted fences are placed between the goat and mare habitats, preventing the mares from going into the goat habitat. The first floor is composed of bedrooms and two guest studios, all of which have direct visual contact with the animal habitat. The rest of the greenhouse is partially preserved, playing a role in the urban landscape of the farm.

Contents

ON THE MOVE

On the road

2 SHARING EXPERIENCES Collective rules Collaborative Agenda The shop

34 35 38

RAINY SEASON

Plans Section

46 48

A NORMAL DAY AT THE FARM

The farm a few years ago... Site plan Plans Facade Perspective section Fragment

56 58 62 68 70 76

5 LEXICON

Commons Enclosures Conflict Fences

ON THE MOVE

digging in the r uins of f le mish a gr ob u s in e s s

A Line Made by Walking, 1967 Richard LONG

People in motion are wonderful to photograph. It means catching the right moment... when one thing changes into something else. Andre KERTESZ

March 13, 2025 Louis and Marie went for a walk not far from the farm and found themselves face to face with a horse. They quickly realize that the horse is lost and seems to be stunned. Marie tries to approach it to check that everything is okay and that it hasn’t been injured. – Louis, can you go to the farm quickly and get me a rope? I’m going to try to get this poor mare back, I think she’s escaped from her paddock. – Give me five minutes and I’ll be back with something to bring her back safely. Marie tries to approach the mare. At first, the mare showed signs of fear, but soon realized that Marie meant no harm. Looking at her, Marie soon realized that she was expecting a foal. But what could have happened to make her run away from her cabin? Meanwhile, Louis returns with a rope and some carrots. – I thought a few carrots would make her want to follow us. – That’s fine, I don’t even think the rope will help. You know, I think she ran away because she felt too cramped in her little enclosure. And I noticed that she was gravid. All she needs is a large meadow and a safe place for the day she gives birth to her little foal. Louis and Marie headed back to the farm with the mare. On the road, they passed a few bikes and no cars, nothing that would scare the mare any more. The region where Louis, Marie and their friends live offers beautiful green areas, and the advantage is that there is very little car traffic, which allows cyclists, pedestrians and animals to be safe when they travel. The owner of the mare never came forward, so the community decided to adopt her in order to give her all the love she would need. A few weeks later, a little foal showed up and brought a lot of joy to the farm.

On the road

On flat or low rolling terrain, you can average 17 km/h regardless of wind for long cycling days (6-8 hrs). The average person will reach a speed of 27km/h on their usual bicycle routine.

A chicken will roam 80-100m away from its chicken coop. Team of pickers: smaller teams of 10 to 12 pickers are the most efficient. Beyond 12, the pickers interfere with each other or spread out over too large an area.

most efficient. Beyond 12, the pickers interfere with each other or spread out over too large an area.

Fall is a time when grasslands need to be monitored. The height of the grass, before it goes into winter rest, should ideally be 5 to 6 cm so as not to harm the spring regrowth. The rest of the plot in winter is essential to guarantee the perenniality by the regeneration of the plants. It is part of the good practices of grassland maintenance. A minimum period of 3 months without animals allows the plants to rest and not to be trampled or shaved to the roots as horses can do in winter.

- A typical horse may be comfortable walking fo 8 hours, meaning he could cover 51km in that time. Feeding your horse year-round on grass and harvested forage is possible if regular maintenance and resting of the meadows are practiced.

Many dairy goats, in their prime, average 2.5 to 4 liters of milk daily during a ten-month lactation, giving more soon after freshening and gradually dropping in production

- A healthy and fit pack goat can carry up to 25% of its weight and walk up to about 19km per day. - Two does need about 6.5

On flat or low rolling terrain, you can average 17 km/h regardless of wind for long cycling days (6-8 hrs). The average person will reach a speed of 27km/h on their usual bicycle routine.

Team of pickers: smaller teams of 10 to 12 pickers are the most efficient. Beyond 12, the pickers interfere with each other or spread out over too large an area.

bicycle routine.

- A healthy and fit pack goat can carry up to 25% of its weight and walk up to about 19km per day. - Two does need about 6.5 sqm) of housing space.

Many dairy goats, in their prime, average 2.5 to 4 liters of milk daily during a ten-month lactation, giving more soon after freshening and gradually dropping in production toward the end of their lactation.

As ruminants, goats rely mainly on hay or pasture to fulfill their dietary needs. They need at least 8 hours of grazing time per day. The best pastures include clovers and mixed grasses.

Walking speeds can vary greatly depending on many factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and fitness. The average human walking speed at crosswalks is about 5 km/h.

Lorem Ipsum

Goats can run fast and reach maximum speed up to 40 km/h.

As ruminants, goats rely mainly on hay or pasture to fulfill their dietary needs. They need at least 8 hours of grazing time per day. The best pastures include clovers and mixed grasses.

A chicken will roam 80-100m away from its chicken coop.

On flat or low rolling terrain, you can average 17 km/h regardless of wind for long cycling days (6-8 hrs). The average person will reach a speed of 27km/h on their usual bicycle routine.

Team of pickers: smaller teams of 10 to 12 pickers are the most efficient. Beyond 12, the pickers interfere with each other or spread out over too large an area.

- A healthy and fit pack goat can carry up to 25% of its weight and walk up to about 19km per day. - Two does need about 6.5 sqm) of housing space.

gradually dropping in production toward the end of their lactation.

As ruminants, goats rely mainly on hay or pasture to fulfill their dietary needs. They need at least 8 hours of grazing time per day. The best pastures include clovers and mixed grasses.

orem Ipsum

- Two does need about 6.5 sqm) of housing space.

Goats can run fast and reach maximum speed up to 40 km/h.

SHARING EXPERIENCES a n a nti- c a r c e r a l a ge nda f or c o- ha bita tio n

‘T STALLEKE, Ranst

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. Andrew CARNEGIE

3 months later… – Camille, Camille, look! The chickens have laid eggs in the goat house. There are lots of them. We should take them back to Sara’s farm, don’t you think? – They have never laid so many eggs. I can go and take them to her if you want, I’ll take the mare and her foal back, they spent the day there, I think Sara wanted to look after the foal. Camille goes towards the other farm. On the way, she takes the time to stop by the store because she had to bring the cheeses that had been produced during the winter and that are finally ready to be sold.

– Hey, hi George! Are you in charge of the sale today? – Yes, I am! I was in charge of cleaning the hen houses but I’m replacing Sophie, she has some cousins visiting. – Oh yes, she told me about it (...) I came to bring you the cheeses. I think that the villagers will be happy, they are excellent. – Thank you, I’ll put them away immediately. Good day Camille! –Have a nice day George, see you soon.

When she arrived, Camille got the mare, her foal and the two goats that had slipped away. It is a beautiful day, the sun is shining and the animals are in good shape. In a happy mood, she proposes to their community to come and join her and her friends this evening, they plan to have a picnic in the fields.

Collective rules General philosophy

Communities should be based on creating and maintaining just relations between their members, non-members, the environment, and hon-humans.

Horizontal governance

A general assembly is held every two weeks to discuss ongoing issues and take decisions. In case of conflicts too, dialogue is the main governance approach. A third party from another community can be involved, he/she can mediates the dialogue and bring back experience in his/her own one.

Tasks organization

Taking care of the place should be done collectively (in pairs at least and in a rotational manner).

Interaction et communication with the commune farms and non-community members (local farmers,

Every month someone is responsible of the outside communication and he is in charge of the relations with outsiders (this person can be the third party mentioned above).

outsiders, schools, artist, friends)

Support network

Each community member can engage in the Support Network. Its aim is to support alternatives to distance from industrial farming and develop awareness regarding waste, technology use and associated emissions. Among its actions, this ‘committee’ organize a seasonal event (held in a commune farm) adressed to members, outsiders and the neighbour villages.

Collaborative agenda The land The Flemish Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (LV) identifies farm properties and greenhouses at risk of conversion: small parcels that are no longer profitable due to the imposition of environmental standards and the competition with the international food market. The institution (VLM: Flemish Land Agency) buys the land from the farmer whom is retired but still lives on site and share his knowledge with the community. Funds will be given to the community to kick-start the farm project. The community and the architect will discuss together the program of the farm. In the long run the aim of this program would be for the community to become more independent by the income generated from the farm products.

The community The VLM works with a Belgian Transformative Justice (NGO) that will focus on alternatives to the contemporary justice/prison system by exploring ways in which people can deal collectively with conflict, crime, mental health issues and violence. This NGO identifies individuals that could be potential candidates to voluntarily take part of this project. The NGO offers them places within a co-housing scheme on a collective farm. There is no fixed time duration for inhabitants’ residency. The two communities are formed by people who have experienced traumas that happened both recently and in the past. Communal meetings are organized once a week where everyone must participate and where issues occurring at the time can be discussed. The members of the community are to express their opinion when a new member is on probation, therefore, when it comes to deciding whether or not the new member should be part of the community, a smoother transition can be achieved. The architect’s role in the farm is for him/her to be kept in the loop. The farms’ designs are to be adapted according to the needs of the community at the time, and its architectural impact on the community is to be regarded. Here, the architect will be integrated with the community when an issue concerning the layout of the farm arises and will therefore be included in the discussions held during the general weekly meetings.

Collaborative agenda Collaboration The two farms will work closely together where each farm will be raising animals (chickens, horses and dairy goats). Both the community members and the animals will have the opportunity to move between the two farms at set times. The communities will be making use of a shared water tank that will in return provide them with the necessary water required for the maintenance of food and the farm animals 1. A small shop will be incorporated between the two farms 2. Each farm will produce and supply fresh products. Such products will mainly be eggs, goat and mare milk, and a variety of cheeses 3. Depending on the seasons, poultry will also be sold, and if the farms have a surplus of vegetables, these will then be sold to the village as well. It can be said that this collaboration is not only achieved between the residents, but also between the farm animals where each complements the other in one way or another. For example: Despite their size difference, goats and horses are ideal pasture-mates. The animals are susceptible to different parasites, so there are no worries about an increased risk of disease in this multispecies pasture. In this pairing, horses have the most to gain: goats eat invasive weeds and underbrush, which improves pasture grazing for horses. Goats serve as traveling companions for horses. Horses are happier and less nervous when they have another animal to interact with or distract them. Goats are a more economical way to provide your horse with company, either in the stable, on the farm, or on the road compared with bringing on another horse or a pony. The chicken eat the smallest pieces of grain on the ground, which prevents flies and rodents from coming into the habitat of the horses and cows. In addition, fowls can help acclimate the horse to strange things on the trail. Their frequent calls and wing beats are a great desensitizer for any green horse. Moreover, chicken manure is a great fertilizer for the growing of vegetables and horse pasture, and horse manure is a good natural feed for the chicken. Such collaboration between animals therefore allow for several benefits to be obtained which in return the community will also benefit from it 4.

The farms 13 individuals coming from different backgrounds will be living and working on each of the two farms 5. Both communities are based on creating and maintaining positive relationships between themselves, as well as with those who do not form part of the community, the environment and all living creatures. The maintenance of the premises, the house and the farm, is to be done collectively and on a rotatory system. Each farm will contain two studios that accommodate future guests when visiting a community member. Each member of the community has a role to play on the farm. For this, a schedule must be respected. Depending on the needs of the animals, work starts in the morning and ends at 6:30 p.m. after the animals have received their food. Goats _ goats only need hay when they can’t graze _ milk collection: twice a day (morning and evening) 7

Chicken _ fed 3 times a day 6 _ eggs to be harvested: 1 time per day _ production of black soldier fly larvae for feed and protein

Dairy products _ milk processing (bottling of raw milk or processing into pasteurized milk) _ on a short and long term basis, production of cheese

Horses _ fed twice a day _ milk collection: twice a day 7

The shop 1:100

A Community Supported Agriculture In order to emphasize the spirit of collaboration and sharing between humans and animals, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) system links the community and consumers more closely to the food system by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the farm’s milk harvest. Any outsider will have the opportunity to come directly to harvest goat or mare milk and actively partici-pate in the operation of the farm while creating social exchanges with the community.

RAINY SEASON a pr oje c t f or a r ur a l c olle c tive r e po s ito r y

Tomba Brion Carlo SCARPA

We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one. Jacques Yves COUSTEAU

5 pm, at the farm The storm has finally stopped and the sun is back, the dogs are having fun outside while Claude feeds the goats, everyone is enjoying the sun. The birds are singing, the green nature is soothing, the sound of the crackling fire mixed with the smell of wet wheat reminds of summer evenings. Everyone enjoy this convivial moment all together, around a good meal lovingly prepared by the three youngest members of the community. – Has anyone seen John? – Don’t tell me he ran away again? I haven’t seen him all day... Have you thought about checking in the greenhouse? Having anxiety issues, John sometimes feels the need to sneak away to recharge his batteries. When he loses control of his emotions, he likes to go into the greenhouse and take care of the riches that live there, it helps him to calm down.

While the others finish their meal, Louise, concerned, decides to go see where is John.

Ploc – Ploc – Ploc – John? Are you there? – Yes, I’m downstairs, join me. (…) It’s so soothing to be here. I was watching the water fall in the pond and I remembered how beautiful nature is. This secret place is really magical and comforting. Listen to the sound of the water running, I could stay here for hours. – You’re right, I really like to come here during the summer, it’s cool and the atmosphere generated by the light reflections is very pleasant. John and Louise had never really bothered to get to know each other fully due to their very different backgrounds, yet they have a lot in common. – The sun went down and it’s getting dark here. Let’s go join the others, I’m sure they are having fun up there. – I have to start the automatic night watering and check the water level in the pond one last time to make sure we don’t run out of water. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.

Underground plan 1:25

Groundfloor plan 1:25

Section 1:40

A NORMAL DAY AT THE FARM this is not a pr ison f a r m

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings Masanobu FUKUOKA 7:30 in the morning The sun rises, the birds sing, a beautiful day begins. In the morning, everyone eats at different times depending on the tasks of the day. Camille and Marie are in charge of feeding the goats, while Julien is in charge of milking the mares. Claude finishes his cup of coffee and starts to laugh. In the distance, he sees a goat roaming around the water reserve. These clever and uncontrollable little creatures are always trying to sneak into the smallest corners of the farm, and the water tank is not a safe place for them, they risk falling in and hurting themselves. A few meters away, Sophie takes her bike and goes to the store. But before leaving, she checks that the animals’ troughs are not empty, with the heat of these last days it is important that they hydrate enough. On the way, she passes a friend from the other farm who comes to get water for their vegetables. - Hey Sophie! Are you the one working at the store today? We have too many vegetables at the farm, I’ll bring them to you so we can sell them, it would be a shame to throw them away. - Hi! Yes, I’m there in the morning. No worries, I’ll reorganize the shelves and find a place for them. See you later!

A few hours later, after a long day of production... The sun is almost down, some mares and goats are still in the meadow, frolicking between the structures and enjoying the evening coolness. Some members are already asleep, it was a day full of emotions and tomorrow they receive people for the milking of the goats, it is necessary that the farm is clean and the material is ready early.

The farm a few years ago... 1:1000

1:5000

Site plan & section 1:1000

Ground floor 1:200

Upper First floor floor 1:200

Seasonal changes The first days at the farm...

1:100

A few years later... Hosted by animals that like to sneak in wherever possible, the farm changes over time. Certain habits are modified by the presence of these animals, the floor of the library which was formerly a wooden floor had to be changed by tiling because the goats were damaging the wood. Some walls are marked by the time, some limits are added or removed according to the seasons and the behavior of the animals. The community learns to live relatively close to the animals: having a shower with the presence of a goat in the bathroom and a mare at the window became a daily occurrence on the farm.

1:100

Facade 1:100

Perspective section 1:100

Axonometric of a relevant fragment of the project

Detail facade & interior fencing - Plan 1:25

Wooden siding vertical lathing, 2,5cm

Existing structure steel, 450cm

Insulation 10cm

Additional structure 5cm

Vertical wooden elements 15x3cm avoiding horses to access goat's housing

Goats housing

Horse housing Accessible by goats

Common space - Library

Guests studio for 2 persons with a bedroom, a kitchinette, a dining room and a bathroom

Stairs leading to the studio Accessible by a different entrance

LEXICON

Commons

The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately. Commons can also be understood as natural resources that groups of people (communities, user groups) manage for individual and collective benefit. Characteristically, this involves a variety of informal norms and values (social practice) employed for a governance mechanism. Commons can be also defined as a social practice of governing a resource not by state or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through institutions that it creates 1. Previously, in the historical documents “commons” referred to common land, often in the form of pastures or meadowland. The commons in its historical sense referred to land that was used by several people or households during a certain period, as opposed to land that was used by only one person or household throughout the whole year. Some of the (land) commons were not necessarily managed by a limited group of people but were managed by the local village board. In some commons all villagers were allowed to use the common’s resources, although under strict use conditions; in other cases it was the administrative board of the village that regulated use of the common land. In the New Regime the many legal changes abolished and reformed most of the commons. In Belgium, for example, the law of 1847 stipulated that all common land that had not already been sold became the property of local governments 2. 1 _ Basu, Soutrik; Jongerden, Joost; Ruivenkamp, Guido (17 March 2017). “Development of the drought tolerant variety Sahbhagi Dhan: exploring the concepts commons and community building”. International Journal of the Commons. 11: 144 2 _ https://www.cairn.info/revue-natures-sciences-societes-2011-4-page-422.htm

Enclosures

Enclosure, sometimes termed inclosure, was the legal process in England of consolidating (enclosing) small landholdings into larger farms from the 13th century onward. Once enclosed, use of the land became restricted and available only to the owner, and it ceased to be common land for communal use. Under enclosure, such land is fenced (enclosed) and deeded or entitled to one or more owners. The process of enclosure began to be a widespread feature of the English agricultural landscape during the 16th century. By the 19th century, unenclosed commons had become largely restricted to rough pasture in mountainous areas and to relatively small parts of the lowlands 1. The Enclosure Movement was a push in the 18th and 19th centuries to take land that had formerly been owned in common by all members of a village, or at least available to the public for grazing animals and growing food, and change it to privately owned land, usually with walls, fences or hedges around it. Before enclosure, much farmland existed in the form of numerous, dispersed strips under the control of individual cultivators only during the growing season and until harvesting was completed for a given year. Thereafter, and until the next growing season, the land was at the disposal of the community for grazing by the village livestock and for other purposes. To enclose land was to put a hedge or fence around a portion of this open land and thus prevent the exercise of common grazing and other rights over it 2. Karl Marx argued that enclosure played a constitutive role in the revolutionary transformation of feudalism into capitalism, both by transforming land from a means of subsistence into a means to realize profit on commodity markets (primarily wool in the English case), and by creating the conditions for the modern labour market by unifying smallholders and pastoralists into the mass of agricultural wage-labourers, i.e. those whose opportunities to exit the market declined as the common lands were enclosed 3. “Enclosure creates inequality. It produces a rentier economy: those who capture essential resources force everyone else to pay for access. It shatters communities and alienates people from their labour and their surroundings. The ecosystems commoners sustained are liquidated for cash. Inequality, rent, atomisation, alienation, environmental destruction: the loss of the commons has caused or exacerbated many of the afflictions of our age.” “A commons, unlike state spending, obliges people to work together, to sustain their resources and decide how the income should be used. It gives community life a clear focus. It depends on democracy in its truest form. It destroys inequality. It provides an incentive to protect the living world. It creates, in sum, a politics of belonging.” 4 1 _ The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography, James M. Rubenstein, Pearson Publishing (2011) 2 _ encyclopaedia britannica 3 _ Marx, Karl. “Capital Volume I, Ch. 27 The Expropriation of the Agricultural Population”. Penguin Classics, 1990 [1867]. Trans. Ben Fowkes. 4 _ Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics for an Age of Crisis, Manbiot 83

Conflict

The word conflict is derived from the Latin word confligere meaning to strike together. Originally, it had a physical rather than moral connotation, though the English word has both. In the physical sense of two or more different things moving to occupy the same space at the same time, the logical inconsistency and the process of solution are identical. For example, the logical inconsistency of two billiard balls being in the same place at the same time is resolved by the conflict which results in their rolling to different positions. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another, is distinguished from competition defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for something of which the supply is inadequate to satisfy all. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict, rivalry and competition are all species of opposition, which has been defined as a process by which social entities function in the disservice of one another. Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. A conflict is solved by definitive acceptance of a decision by all parties. In physical conflicts where all but one party are totally destroyed such decisions may be absolute; but if the conflict concern ideas, policies, or claims, the words “definitive”, “acceptance” and “all” have to be taken relatively. The rejected ideas, policies, or claims may be presented again. A decision may be accepted in a different sense by different parties. The direct parties to a controversy may not be the only parties interested. There are four ways in which social conflicts can be relatively solved: By negotiation and agreement resulting in settlement or adjustment in accord with the will of all the parties; by adjudication and decision in accord with the will of an outside party; by dictation or decision in accordance with the will of one party to the conflict;; by obsolescence through agreement to disagree which may in time sink the conflict into oblivion and result in a settlement according to the will of no one 1. 1 _ The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Jun., 1951), pp. 193-209

Fences

A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. Alternatives to fencing include a ditch (sometimes filled with water, forming a moat). Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields. Common fields were aggregated and enclosed by large and enterprising farmers—either through negotiation among one another or by lease from the landlord—to maximize the productivity of the available land and contain livestock. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the modern law of servitudes 1. The history of civilization is closely tied with the history of fences. It emerged from the notions of agriculture, family and property. Fences helped institutionalize the collective recognition of private property as a visual and open declaration of intention, a commitment to the land, a proprietor’s self-regard and responsibility. On first impressions, it is a structure serving as a barrier but when is an opaque sort of wall it works as signage. We make an interpretation rather than physical contact with it; we know we should not trespass it and we know that this portion of terrain belongs to someone. It has a symbolic meaning. Fences regulate our movement on the ground we live in which is in constant transformation, forming our dynamic society. It is a product of the struggle for control between humans, a technological solution we conceived to solve social conflicts, a symbolic expression of our conviction that we should have some kind of social control. A fence is not just a boundary. It doesn’t only divide but connect spaces, it’s a reminder that two spaces are standing next to each other; it directs movement and enhances the appearance of a space. The railings or balustrades are also a type of fence; it protects us from falling but it also allows us to give that extra step towards a limit that we figure dangerous. The design and the materials affect our personal reality and perception of an object that’s primary function is to bar and/or mark the land. So we turn this structure into a pleasant sculpture, we subvert its meaning creating visual and physical interaction, giving the illusion that we’re not being controlled 2. 1 _ Jesse Dukeminer et al., Property, pp. 668-70 (6th ed. 2006) 2 _ Ana Lopes Ramos, Architect, Amsterdam

Trauma

Trauma, Ruth Leys explains, “was originally the term for a surgical wound, conceived on the model of a rupture of the skin or protective envelope of the body resulting in a catastrophic global reaction in the entire organism” (Leys, 2000, p. 19). The idea of trauma as the rupture of a protective envelope easily suggests the possibility that the idea of “from the body to the mind” can indeed be extended to architecture, thus returning trauma, in a sense, to the body — the body of architecture and inhabitant of architecture. It is important to understand that these transpositions are not merely formal analogies, but need to be considered as processes in time when they refer to architecture. The “transposition” of the medico-surgical notion of trauma into psychology and psychiatry is well described by Jean Laplanche (1924–2012). Laplanche explains that in physical trauma there are “a series of gradations linking major impairments of tissue to decreasingly perceptible degrees of damage, but that would nevertheless be of the same nature” and produce “histological damage and, ultimately, intracellular damage. The trauma would proceed, as it were, to a kind of self-extenuation, but without losing its nature, until it reached a certain limit, that limit being precisely what we call ‘psychical trauma,”. There are here a few points that offer a key to better understanding the relation of trauma to architecture. Trauma is not a sudden event, violently triggered and enacted (the rupture of the protective envelope), but rather the series of reactions that the event triggers and that spread out, in time-space, in the body. Trauma is therefore a temporal becoming. The transition from the body to the psyche, then, is not marked by a discontinuity. This is not an analogy but a continuum of becoming of the organism, be it a body or the body of architecture. Architecture too, then, can be seen, not as a wounded body, but as an organism that progressively reacts to a triggering rupture. The relationship between trauma and architecture is thus a complex process of interactions, and, as in psychology, the body of architecture—its pasts, memories, and languages—is affected.

Master studio 2nd semester KU Leuven - Faculty of Architecture Manon Vandommele