Graduation project
Ûleboerd
Fenna Lyan Burghgraef
A modular system helps farmers recreate their own ‘ûleboerd’ — a traditional Friesland facade ornament — to share information about their farm with the public.
On the facade of every farm in Friesland you’ll find a particular ornament known as ‘ûleboerd’. The symbols on the ûleboerd communicated information about the farmland and its farmers for centuries. The tradition of the ûleboerd still continues today. The meaning of the symbols, however, has been lost to time. Fenna Lyan Burghgraef wants farmers to have the chance to tell their personal stories again by modernizing the ûleboerd. She developed a modular system made of durable EKOply and a collection of redesigned symbols that fit into it. At a glance, the updated ornament can tell you what’s being farmed, what technology is used, which animals live on the land and more. Fenna hopes the ûleboerd can help rebuild the bridge between farmer and citizen.