Fall 2015 Grant Recipient
Graduate Student
Anthony Averbeck (Architecture) This research examines the future of rural space in a world increasingly characterized by mass migration to megacities. The contemporary focus on urbanism perpetuates the traditional urban/rural divide and dismisses the countryside as an uneventful place in stagnation. Despite this, the countryside is a place of immense opportunity for innovative development. As Rem Koolhaas asserts, the rural is the "frontline of transformation… more volatile than the most accelerated city." This is evident in phenomena such as seasonal immigration, energy production, investment, massive subsidies, and advancements in big agriculture. The central question, then, is if the rural is to play an important role as a transformative counterpart to the growing city, what will future habitation of the rural look like?