Date: 23th September 2014

Maria's Charalambous (ALUMNI 2014) Design Thesis won the third prize (Bronze Ear Award) among all the projects that were presented at the B-Pro Show 2014 at The Bartlett School of Architecture, MArch Urban Design. Her Design Thesis also received Distinction (77/100).

Project Title: "Territorial Devices-Land Reform in Cyprus"

The project addresses the landscape of the Buffer Zone in Cyprus as an operative ground, by suggesting a series of infrastructural devices, which can re-shape the entire territory. It proposes land redistribution and the design of a new grid for the agricultural region of Mesaoria consisting of parcels in sizes and shapes that allow co-operation between the owners. Thus it establishes a new form of land ownership in rural areas and the modification of the existing system of small, fragmented properties by creating bi-communal partnerships, a collectivized land devoted to large-scale farming. A series of devices, productive machines, logistic hubs and settlement units form the infrastructural network that enhances and accommodates the new system of agricultural production.

Territorial Devices is a project to rethink the relationship between the two communities of the island through land reform and the role of infrastructure in relation to the land ownership system. It challenges the political conflict over land and property that historically determined the way space and population was organized and fragmented. Therefore, the proposal does not attempt to solve the conflict between the two constituent parts but to reposition it on a new territorial and political basis.