A guideline for a productive bocage landscape

The Abbey of Herkenrode has a rich history amid its landscape. A bocage landscape consisting of various small landscape elements was managed by multiple farms on behalf of the Abbey, adding to its productivity and ecological diversity. Today, the landscape is subject to spatial fragmentation and ecological degradation. Urbanisation, increased scale in agriculture and equestrianization have put pressure on the current landscape. The Herkenrode Forests suffered from this complex spatial transformation. These centuries-old forests lack a resilient landscape that can withstand further degradation.

How can re-introducing a productive bocage landscape operate as an act of repair in the current fragmented cultural landscape? To protect and repair the fragmented Herkenrode forests, this project is conducting research through design into the historic landscape around the Abbey of Herkenrode. Through fieldwork, landscape profiles identify and portray the remnants of an old productive bocage landscape. Local species - collected in a herbarium - form the components to re-design these landscape profiles, building upon the current profiles and adding to their resilience and productivity. These designed profiles introduce a spatial framework to the Herkenrode Forests. A re-designed productive bocage landscape emerges by layering the designed profiles on top of the landscape palimpsest, connecting the fragmented plots of the Herkenrode Forests. A re-introduction of the past productive bocage landscape is realised through attentively designing-with the current local landscape elements. Architecture operates as a catalyst in this re-introduction. The landscape of Herkenrode was characterised by demountable half-timbered barns that facilitated the cultivation of the area on behalf of the abbey. To enable the repair of the landscape, the project introduces the design of a nomadic barn. Designed-with local species of the Herkenrode Forests and detailed with demountable joints, this nomadic barn enables the transition from the current fragmented landscape to the designed connected landscape by facilitating the program of 'working-with' and 'learning-about' the landscape. When the Herkenrode Forests have gained resilience through the introduced landscape transition, the barn will move to another location, supporting the repair of the next fragmented landscape.