Lerfald Ecovillage is a master’s thesis in architecture where we explore alternative ways for humans to live in the world. Somewhere along the way in human development, we lost our connection to nature. This has led to an alienation both in ourselves and in our surroundings. This disconnection from nature is now destroying the earth and our very livelihood. When did we stop living in harmony with nature? 

Urbanization, efficiency, and globalization have created distance to our places, our origins, and in essence - ourselves. To find solutions for the future, we need to look to when we lived within the earth’s capacity. Can we use the “klyngetun” and village communities of the past as inspiration to rediscover the sense of belonging that we have lost? In earlier times, people lived and built according to local conditions, with local resources, based on knowledge passed down through generations. Somewhere along the way it stopped. In our thesis, we challenge modern building norms, the use of non-renewable and non-local resources, as well as he exaggerated need for comfort, in the quest to find some of what we have lost. Can a lower level of comfort lead to a higher quality of life?

While the spotlight is on urbanity, on the cities, and the ever-shrinking world, the Norwegian countryside has become an industrial landscape with fewer and fewer active farms. Can agricultural properties act as catalysts for new, regenerative settlements?

The thesis examines these questions through the design of Lerfald Ecovillage. The site for the project is Lerfald Gård, a farm outside of Trondheim. The village is inspired by ecovillages in Norway and abroad, as well as the Norwegian “klyngetun” or clusters. We used the concepts and ideology of the ecovillages and the physical organization of the clusters. The project encompasses regenerative models, new lifestyle concepts, and potential ripple effects in the local community as well as Norway as a whole. The cluster-houses are designed for self-construction, based on local, natural resources, and adapted to the topography for minimal impact.

The village consists in total of five clusters as well as three greenhouses for food production. The whole village is planned following principles of permaculture.