(CO)Habitats – Archiprix 2024

In her graduation project, Tereza Lacigová replaces traditional wildlife deterrence with measures that foster human-wildlife coexistence. In the context of Assam, India, Lacigová explores how landscape design can support wildlife conservation with agricultural production.

(Co)habitats / Tereza Lacigová / Archiprix 2024 / Technische Universiteit Delft — An oasis for wildlife: transforming a monofunctional tea estate into a combination of agriculture, wildlife and recreation.

Can you explain your choice of subject?
When I was starting my graduation, I chose the Urban Ecology studio, since I knew from the start I wanted to work closely with topics like ecology, biodiversity preservation, designing with nature and sustainability etc. Moreover, I was also fascinated by the region, for both its nature and cultural landscape. I choose to work with the topic of human-elephant conflict and look for ways in which landscape design can help combine wildlife preservation and agriculture.

What or who are your sources of inspiration and can you explain this?
Learning about the philosophy of giving nature its agency, showcased in projects like The Parliament of Things by Bruno Latour or the Embassy of the North Sea, inspired me to explore working with the idea of animals – and nature in general – as a stakeholder in the process, equal to human users, rather than something extra. While searching for site-specific solutions to mitigate the conflict between elephants and people in the villages, I was also inspired by the initiatives of a local community that has decided that instead of trying to find more effective measures to keep the animals away, they would dedicate a part of their land or their crops to the elephants and nurture the relationship with them. I have decided to build on this idea and further integrate the idea of leaving space for nature to take over into the design.

Describe the key moment in your graduation project
There were many important moments in my thesis journey, but I believe the site visit to be one of the most critical points. Visiting the location allowed me to experience the landscape fully, see the points of view of the stakeholders and learn much more than I could from mere desk research. However, it also pushed me to reconsider many of the conclusions I previously came to and readjust the focus points of my work.

Can you explain what design(ing) means to you?
Designing for me is a way to express my creativity, as well as a chance to shape our collective future and have a positive impact on dealing with contemporary challenges such as climate change. I believe that as landscape designers specifically, we have a unique role that involves bridging many disciplines together – from the ecologist to the civil engineer and city planner – and finding a common ground.

What do you hope to achieve as a designer in the near and / or the distant future?
I would like to continue working on projects that involve designing with and for nature and focusing on climate change adaptation.

Project description
Assam’s rapidly growing population has brought more urbanization and expansion of agricultural lands, leading to deforestation and the disappearance of natural habitats for wild animals, especially the elephants. Facing a food shortage and being pushed out of their natural habitats, the elephants increasingly often come to search for food in villages and fields, making them a threat to vulnerable rural communities.

The (Co)Habitats project aims to formulate a landscape-based strategy for a landscape of human and wildlife coexistence, by creating solutions that benefit all human and non-human stakeholders. It especially focuses on the possibility of combining tea production landscapes with wildlife corridors and habitats. By providing natural sources of food and enough space for the wildlife, the threats for people, such as crops being grazed by elephants, are mitigated, and the positive relationship between people and elephants can be restored.

More images

Thesis