During the 1980s, idealistic modernists believed architecture would redeem the world and be the solution to various socio-economic issues. But in our contemporary era, architects and contractors are increasingly faced with the topics of reuse or reconversion of buildings, essentially because of the deindustrialization trend. When confronted with this abundance of vacant or desolated constructions, we usually either demolish or transform. But the industrial era may only be a parenthesis during which conflicts off-balanced practices and made the process of tabula rasa mainstream, as the increase in edifice transformations and reconversions picks back up on the practice common in the past centuries. In this age of the urban scene, what does it mean for a building to have longevity? To persevere through time? And in which aspects should it be long-lasting?

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A few weeks ago, Bouwkunde, under the guidance of our EXTREME coordinator - Job Schroën, hosted a workshop by the CARE Shelter team. CARE is a global NGO working with communities under the pressure of humanitarian crises; be it the war zone in Ukraine, the earthquake and cholera outbreak in Haiti, or the recent hunger crisis in Eastern Africa… a context most of us are not used to working with. They focus specifically on fighting poverty and inequalities that put women and girls in a vulnerable position when faced with an emergency.

The following is a true recount of an accidental romance between architecture and food.