WITH AN ACRE: ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURES IN THE HEART OF BRAZIL’S COFFEE REGION

With an Acre is the third and final chapter of Groundwork, a film and exhibition series that explores the conceptual development and field research of contemporary architects cultivating alternative modes of practice in response to the ecological crisis. The project accompanies the architect Carla Juaçaba as she designs a museum and community space in collaboration with Flor de Café, a collective of small-scale coffee farmers in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The arabica coffee plant was introduced to Brazil three hundred years ago and, through the exploitation of enslaved and later immigrant labor, became an industry that today occupies over 2 million hectares. Centuries of extractive culture have devastated ecosystems and entrenched deep social inequities. Added to this legacy are the intensifying effects of climate change: unpredictable and extreme weather events that increasingly threaten rural livelihoods. Despite this, movements promoting regenerative agriculture and reforestation continue to gain strength.

Inspired by the temporality of Indigenous collective structures and the form of highway billboards that punctuate the extended rural landscape, Juaçaba proposes an architectural landmark on an elevated plantation overlooking the town of Nepomuceno. Lightweight and tactical, the structure will offer a space for sharing knowledge, serve as a symbolic stage of resistance, and leave a minimal trace on the land. The pavilions will frame views of the region but, more importantly, articulate a vision for the future of the territory.

Curated by Francesco Garutti and Irene Chin, alongside filmmaker Joshua Frank, the series presents a layered form of reportage: while the film (2025, 45 min) captures the aspirations of the project from the multiple perspectives of the collective, the exhibition reflects the architect’s ongoing research. With an Acre tells the story of Juaçaba’s search for an essential set of gestures in solidarity with movements for agrarian reform and forest conservation—and for an architecture that can provide a practical scaffold for resilience.

“Architecture is not for oneself, but for others,” says Juaçaba. Her connection to Flor de Café is shaped through dialogue with Milena Rodrigues, founder of the collective, whose work has been transformational for generations of farmers. The museum is rooted in Milena’s idea of retelling Brazil’s history through the lens of coffee: a narrative of forest destruction, but also a living commitment to biodiversity.

With an Acre will be on view through September 14, 2025, at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, Canada.