The story
Energy, agriculture, and stewardship on one working landscape.
Chiedza—the Shona word for “light”—was conceived alongside a major solar development near Lake Chivero, but the village proposal asks what renewable energy can make possible beyond the power plant fence. Hannah Oitzman’s thesis organizes an agricultural training center, community spaces, and a stewardship hub within a working landscape shaped with Foundations for Farming and local energy partner Canotek. The master plan connects demonstration fields, instruction, gathering, and village life so that farming knowledge can be practiced rather than only discussed. Research into Zimbabwean climate, culture, vernacular architecture, land, and energy informed the building forms and material approach.
Solar power supports the campus, while shade, orientation, and passive strategies reduce the demand placed on it. Developed through Journeyman International, Chiedza remains a design proposal rather than a documented built village. Its architectural contribution is the relationship between systems: clean energy, soil stewardship, training, and community infrastructure are planned together so each investment can reinforce the others.