Fabia Sainz Fernandez

Mountain Nomads

Revitalizing the rural identity of Asturias. A reimagining of the Quintana farm as a public and inclusive landscape.

Asturias, a mountainous region in northern Spain, is characterized by its rough geography which isolated the region from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, propelling unique and rich rural traditions, only disrupted by the Camino the Santiago pilgrimage paths. This millennial path has been the main crossover along the rural landscape of Asturias, connecting small villages to the world. 

Central to Asturias’ rural landscape is the Quintana—an autonomous farm complex integrating land, home, and auxiliary buildings such as the hórreo, a moveable wooden barn raised above ground unique to the region. Once vital to local life, these farms are endangered by rural exodus, aging population, and urban migration of younger generations, especially women, towards better opportunities. Increasingly Quintanas are abandoned, sold or converted into seasonal retreats, severing their agricultural and cultural ties to the rural community. 

This project intervenes at a critical moment, when urban exodus and migration to the countryside has become popular after the post-epidemic era. Under this circumstance, especially with the emergence of the digital nomads and neo-rural communities, a new farm typology may be able to provide the answer to revitalize the rural landscape. 

The new Quintana dismantles the enclosed, private nature of traditional farms and proposes a deconstructed, public system of architectural interventions across the farmland, some embedded, some moveable, inviting relationships between people, landscape and place. These elements are designed to be used and maintained collectively, fostering interaction between locals, newcomers, and visitors.

Mountain nomads reclaims this rural landscape not as a relic of the past, but as a living space for cultural exchange, education, and renewed identity.

 

Graduation date: 28 May 2025
Graduation committee: Jo Barnett (mentor), Anna Fink, Gianni Cito
Additional members for the exam: Marlies Boterman, Dingeman Deijs
Experts: Fernando Mora Rodríguez, Julio Cesar Zapico