Food is often considered a major issue within Indigenous communities. Once deeply regional and cultural, it has now often been reduced to a more Westernized version. The reduction of traditional territory through the creation of the Kahnawà:ke reserve, combined with the influence of North American culture, has made traditional food practices more difficult to maintain.

   The objective of the agroculinary centre project is therefore both to promote traditions through ancestral agricultural and culinary practices and to move toward a renewed food sovereignty for the community through more contemporary farming methods.

  To achieve this, ancestral agricultural methods such as companion planting will be emphasized in the cultivation of the outdoor fields. These practices optimize cultivable space and reduce the use of external inputs while perpetuating a sustainable agricultural tradition. An agricultural storage facility was designed on the southern part of the site to house the equipment and resources required.

  In order to extend the harvesting season, two greenhouses were developed. The first, adjacent to the agricultural storage building, is more traditional and would therefore be suitable for the use of ancestral methods. The second, closer to the shoreline, is a hydroponic greenhouse connected to a fish farming installation. The combination of these two methods, known as aquaponics, enables the creation of an integrated ecosystem in which fish waste is transformed by bacteria into essential nutrients for plant growth, while the plants in turn filter and purify the water for the fish.

  The structure of these two complexes is similar to that of the community kitchen and its terrace; it consists of two elongated volumes slightly offset from one another to emphasize their distinct functions while maximizing natural light and creating openings. Unlike the residence and the kitchen workshop, however, the structure is made of steel rather than timber. This change in materiality signals the transition from a more social and welcoming function to a production-oriented space. The steel structure also pays tribute to Mohawk workers, the Skywalkers, who, through their skill and courage at extreme heights, became renowned for their essential role in the construction of New York’s skyscrapers and bridges in the early twentieth century.