1 Dept. of
Rural Realities

VCE-CDG Ticket
Little did I know that the infrastructure allowing me to be in Paris will soon be seen from a very different perspective as infrastructure of division.

2 Dept. of
Rural Data & Histories


Postcard
The idyllic life of the village is captured in vintage postcards. Everyday life and practices are still present in the streets.

3 Dept. of
Rural Realities


Goussainville
Although no longer active in agricultural production, the village still holds on to its past.

4 Dept. of
Rural Realities

Flightradar24.com
Once in Goussainville, one encounters a soundscape alien to the rural landscape. The sound of planes taking off serves as a reminder of the nearby city region.

5 Dept. of
Rural Data & Histories

1963 Dainava Map
The interwar rural landscape was characterised by homesteads, enabling families to support themselves. This organisation of the land was shaped by laws that resulted in specific spatial qualities and arrangements.

6 Dept. of
Rural Data & Histories

1973 Ukmergė District Development Plan
During the Soviet times, central planning envisioned and aimed for the industrialisation of agriculture, which required the development of new urban-rural structures.

7 Dept. of
Rural Data & Histories

Chronicles of Želsvelė
Propaganda films showcased the achievements of socialist society in state farms, highlighting new urban qualities and amenities in rural areas.

8 Dept. of
Rural Data & Histories

Agricultural Activity
Patches of diverse agricultural activity could still be seen in the area, reminding one of its rural character.

9 Dept. of
Rural Realities

Apartment Building
Initially alien to the rural landscape, apartment buildings like these have become the new norm in village settings and ways of living.

10 Dept. of
Rural Realities

‘Biblioteka’ Sign
With the new mode of rural planning came a new social programme.Kindergartens, supermarkets, libraries, and culture centres introduced new architecture to the villages.

11 Dept. of
Rural Realities

Vernacular Structure
Eradicated from private environments, rural life continued to manifest in the vernacular architecture that emerged alongside the new modernist structures.

12 Dept. of
Rural Realities

EU Project
Another rural transition occurred with the accession to the EU, opening new financial possibilities for regional cohesion. In this case, the focus was on the village square.

13 Dept. of
Rural Futures

Agonistic Assemblies
How can people be brought closer to decision-making, and what tools should be used to create new governance for rural communities?

14 Dept. of
Rural Futures


Village Community
Existing institutions and regulations allow for a certain degree of self-governance in the fields of culture and economic activity, yet there is little in place for future development.

15 Dept. of
Rural Futures

Rural Assembly
A new decentralised institution which empowers rural communities to set their own agenda of future development, while also creating governance opportunities that consider more-than-human perspectives.

15 Dept. of
Rural Futures

Visualising the Future
How does this institution spatialise and what spatial changes might it bring? Fiction and scenario planning allow us to visualise the future.

GOUSSAINVILLE. Grand Paris Region pop. 20–30 est. 9th century

Goussainville, once a thriving village located just 20 kilometres north of Paris, has become one of the symbols of urban expansion and its consequences on rural landscapes. Once a quiet and picturesque community, it now stands largely abandoned, with its crumbling houses, empty streets, and eerie silence, offering a stark contrast to the territorial elements and overhead planes passing every five minutes. The decline of Goussainville is intricately tied to the development of Charles de Gaulle Airport and serves as a microcosm of the broader tension between rural preservation and metropolitan growth in the Grand Paris city-region.

The most immediate and profound impact of the airport’s construction was noise pollution. Goussainville lay directly under the flight path of planes taking off and landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Residents were suddenly subjected to the constant roar of aircraft, which made daily life unbearable. Furthermore, the vibrations from the planes caused structural damage to the village’s old buildings, accelerating their decay.

In addition to noise pollution, the development of the airport led to a complete transformation of the surrounding landscape.

DAINAVA. Vilnius Region pop. 446 est. 1971

Dainava, a village located in southern Lithuania, stands as a significant example of Soviet-era urban planning and agricultural collectivisation. This settlement, developed as an experimental city-like village, offers insights into the broader processes of collectivisation, state-controlled farming, and rural restructuring that took place in Lithuania during the Soviet period. After Lithuania gained independence in 1990, Dainava and other similar settlements faced major challenges as they transitioned from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented system. The post-Soviet transformation, along with Lithuania’s accession to the European Union in 2004, led to further changes, particularly in the way EU funds were allocated to revitalise rural areas and agriculture.

The establishment of Dainava was part of a broader transformation of rural settlements in Lithuania under the Soviet regime. Prior to Soviet rule, Lithuanian villages were typically small and spread out, with individual farms located at a distance from one another. The Soviet authorities sought to centralise these dispersed settlements to make it easier to control the population and organise agricultural production.