Know the Hands that Feed You: A Marketplace and Knowledge Co-Op in the Skagit Valley for Farmworkers, Locals, and Consumers

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the potential that architecture has to address the well-being of the immigrant farmworker community in Washington. Farmworkers represent a population that is systematically taken advantage of on a daily basis. Agricultural corporations, politicians, consumers, and local citizens contribute directly and indirectly to their hardships. Poor living and working conditions compounded with racism and anti-immigration sentiment result in a severely degraded state of well-being. This thesis asserts that the cycle of poverty experienced by the farmworker community is largely perpetuated by a negative relationship with their local community and a nonexistent relationship with the greater consumer community. It seeks to create a marketplace and knowledge co-op that fosters interaction between farmworkers, locals, and consumers to generate understanding and awareness. Ultimately, it utilizes culturally contextual tectonics as a design methodology for creating a comfortable and familiar sense of place.