Date of Submission
Spring 5-4-2018
Degree Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Ermal Shpuza
Secondary Advisor
Pegah Zamani
Abstract
Usually when you think of agriculture, you think of a farm, of production and of profitability and not on how can cities benefit from these practices, specially informal settlements. Urban agriculture is practiced almost as a hobby in industrialized nations, but it’s a response to a need in developing countries. In the case of Ciudad Bolivar, an informal settlement on the edge of Bogota, Colombia, urban farming resulted from food scarcity and poverty. The project develops design placemaking strategies aimed at improving the built environment and, as a result, the social cohesion of the neighborhood. The thesis proposes a community where agriculture is introduced at the initial stages of the design process, with farming gardens, food markets, and a community hub that coalesce into a performative edge and mediate between the rural and urban worlds. An edge that creates a more connected and livable community, one that harvests tradition.