Prendre La Clef Des Champs Book Review. Scenarios for the future of architecture and agriculture

The volume Prendre la clef des champs: agriculture et architecture by Sébastien Marot is the expanded and enriched French version of the volume Taking the Country’s Side: Agriculture and Architecture published in 2019 in the context of the eponymous exhibition, part of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. This work brings together concepts, hypotheses, and references from the many thematic areas addressed by the author in his previous research (architecture, urban planning, landscape, agriculture, ecology, history, philosophy). The book offers the reader a synthesis of the interaction between agriculture, architecture, urbanism, and the environment from the Neolithic period to the present day, formulates a critique of the current direction in which these are evolving, and presents ecologically sustainable alternatives to the dominant mode of development. The contrasting, complementary, or antithetical visions addressed by the author are summarized in four representative scenarios for the future.

The interest of this volume lies in raising awareness of current trends and schools of thought regarding the future of cities, agriculture, and lifestyles in a context of heightened ecological and economic instability and uncertainty about the survival of today’s capitalist society in the face of major crises in the future. The author promotes permaculture as the basis for a new theory of architectural and urban design and advocates a model of an energy- and food-autonomous society that is predominantly rural and managed on a bioregional scale.