Emmy Jansen

Betekenisvolle leegte

Meaningful emptiness 

– Repurposing Agricultural Heritage as a Spatial Response to Demographic Transitions


In the project Meaningful Emptiness, I investigate how vacant agricultural homesteads in the Dutch countryside can regain significance by being repurposed as living spaces for single-person households. The impetus is a combination of demographic shifts — such as aging populations, young people leaving the villages, and shrinking household sizes — rural vacancy, and the growing need for affordable, small-scale housing options (for the increasing number of people who live alone). 

Through spatial analyses, policy research, and case studies in three villages, I focus on the question: 

‘In what way can a new, future-proof housing typology for single-person households in rural areas contribute to enhancing the livability of villages while preserving the memory of the homestead?’ 

In my design, I do not transform the existing homestead layout and structural frameworks by replacing or demolishing them, but rather by preserving them — as embodiments of the place and as a remembrance of the agricultural past. Within these contours, space emerges for new functions: homes, shared facilities, or uses that strengthen the village’s livability. The emptiness that remains is not seen as a shortcoming, but as a spatial quality. This meaningful emptiness offers room for social interaction, collectivity, breathing space, and rhythm. 

I have applied this concept to various scales of the homestead: landscape architecture, architecture, and interior design. This creates a flexible, future-oriented living environment that reactivates the homestead as a social and spatial system. For my design assignment, I selected an existing homestead as a case study. This concept can be applied to any homestead and offers a solution for various homesteads in the Netherlands or elsewhere. 

Graduation date: 25 June 2025 
Graduation committee: Bart van der Salm (mentor), Karin Peeters, Wouter Loomans  
Additional members for the exam: Jan Richard Kikkert, Marcel van der Lubbe