Scholarship & Research

The American barn is an enigma on the landscape. A building that arouses feelings in every person. Whether recollecting a childhood memory of playing in a loft, doing barn chores at all hours of the day or that forever connection to the past wondering what it must have been like to live back then or even architecturally admiring its undeniable form. Yet they are an enigma because this embedded nostalgia we have for them is not merely enough to save a lost culture and the buildings themselves. The foundations and ideals that the barns were built on must be looked at as well. "Until quite recently, the majority of humanity still told time by the sun, organized their lives by the slow rhythms of the seasons, and lived by the traditional knowledge and beliefs of their ancestors, accumulated slowly over the course of centuries and millennia."¹ This way of life is reflected in older farm buildings and is perhaps the last remnant of that culture in the United States. Technology has changed the way we live, build and identify place, allowing us to do things we once only dreamed. In many instances the increased mechanization of farming has led to the destruction of soils, water systems and habitats, not to mention fruits and vegetables that are flavorless and covered in pesticides. Yet in recent years there has been resurgence and developing awareness of sustainable farming practices, which are based on a whole system approach whose overall goal is the continuing health of the land and people. The demand for products, such as milk from cows that have not been injected with hormones, can be seen nationwide in grocery stores. There is a growing market for the quality of food. In almost every aspect.

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