Agricultural territories as sites of negotiation: a hybrid architectural design methodology for the Po Valley cascina

Purpose This paper develops a hybrid practice–design–theory methodology to reposition agricultural territories as critical sites of negotiation between automation, care and spatial agency in the Anthropocene. Focusing on the dispersed urban condition of the Po Valley, it argues that agricultural architecture constitutes a key arena in which ethical relations with non-human life, energy transition and territorial transformation can be spatially mediated rather than technologically resolved. Design/methodology/approach The research mobilises architectural design as situated inquiry through a comparative analysis of two contrasting paradigms: a fully automated, algorithmic farm and a low-tech, degrowth-oriented model. These are examined through five analytical categories: ethics and animal wellbeing, production efficiency, renewable energy generation, waste processing and community generation. The methodology integrates collaborative mapping workshops translating environmental memory into spatial knowledge, typological analysis of the cascina as an operative framework and exhibition-based research as an epistemic and communicative device. Findings The comparison reveals that both paradigms exhibit structural limitations when isolated. Automated systems maximise control and efficiency while risking the decoupling of productivity from ethical and spatial conditions, whereas low-tech models foreground care but lack territorial and operational robustness. The design synthesis proposes a strategic reconfiguration of Cascina Vialone, embedding distributed energy systems, circular metabolisms and public programmes within an adapted courtyard typology to test how architecture can mediate between production imperatives and care practices under climate stress. Originality/value The paper contributes an original hybrid methodology combining architectural design research, environmental humanities perspectives and comparative analysis. It advances architectural research beyond descriptive accounts of agricultural transformation by articulating alternative spatial configurations capable of reconciling automation with care. By reframing the cascina as an operative palimpsest rather than a heritage object, the study offers transferable insights for rethinking agricultural territories as agro-energetic and social infrastructures within dispersed urban regions.