Tag Archives: rural

This bamboo pavilion is an interactive design that transforms a rural landscape into a social hub!

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Bamboo Pavilion by LIN Architecture is a rural construction project in Chongming that transformed an empty grassy landscape into a dynamic interactive hub in hopes of promoting socialization between visitors and residents alike.

Every big city has its quiet, eclectic, rural counterpart. Brooklynites take short train rides upstate to Hudson, where they visit flea markets for handcrafted goods and knitwear. Then, Los Angelenos drive east to find their zen and a few grassy hikes in Ojai.

In Shanghai, tourists and local residents escape the city heat for Chongming, a low-lying island brimming with sweeping nature preserves and thriving forests. Settling on one of several rural spaces in Chongming, the team from LIN Architecture developed an architectural structure called Bamboo Pavilion designed as a social hub for the island’s residents and visitors.

Relying on one of the strongest construction materials available, Bamboo Pavilion was realized by the architects from LIN, along with designers and students from across the globe, reinstating the Pavilion’s main purpose of bringing people from all walks of life together to share a moment interacting with artfully architectural spaces.

During the day, the Bamboo Pavilion reflects sunlight off its naturally glazed coat. Then, come dark, the Bamboo Pavilion glimmers with golden light from the inside, out, implying a sort of lantern in the night that shines for and attracts tourists filled with wanderlust.

Much of what makes rural construction projects so intriguing for designers and guests comes with the transformation of ‘empty’ space into ‘active’ space. LIN’s Bamboo Pavilion in Chongming turns to free-flowing shapes and lively jungle gym-like architecture to morph the island’s grassland into a hub of social activity and curiosity.

Turning a rural lot’s available space into an interactive architectural pavilion allows visitors to understand familiar landscapes in exciting, new ways. As the designers behind LIN put it, “Interactions between family members or strangers are realized by the space enticing people to break boundaries. People spend their time resting, talking, and transiting around this installation.”

Designer: LIN Architecture

LIN’s architectural vision was realized with the help of designers and students from across the globe!

During the day, the Bamboo Pavilion creates changing light blocks and shadows for a reflective, dynamic display.

From above, the Bamboo Pavilion evokes curiosity and wonder. 

Children and tourists alike can enjoy interacting with this rural landscape in new ways while socializing with one another. 

The post This bamboo pavilion is an interactive design that transforms a rural landscape into a social hub! first appeared on Yanko Design.

Modular treehouse units with triangular pitched roofs offer unlimited views of an old French château in the countryside!

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Treehouses inherently exude an air of myth and adventure. When stationed either in dense jungles as a natural hub to study wildlife or placed in a suburban backyard for kids, the treehouse is the place where the escapist can let their hair down. Take the treehouse and tuck it next to an old French castle in the countryside and it’s something straight from the storybooks. Forma Atelier, a Mexico-based architecture firm, turned that storybook setting into reality with their modular treehouse concept that cleverly combines razor-sharp triangular roofs with sweeping glass window panes to share the rural hills with that of an old French château.

Dartagans is a French crowdfunding site that allows citizens to help preserve heritage sites like châteaus through donations. Through these crowdfunding efforts, entire cultural sites in France are able to stay put and avoid any prospect of future demolition. Hosting a competition that welcomes young architects to design treehouse concepts for châteaus throughout rural France, Dartagans hosted one such competition for Loudun’s Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers. Rising to the top, Forma Atelier designed a modular treehouse concept that comprises limited residential units as their competition submission.

The prototype of each scalable treehouse was designed to be replicated and placed anywhere. Conceptualized as mobile and adaptable, the treehouse’s build achieves stability through its cross-layered foundation constructed from the overlaying of wooden planks. Forma Atelier designed two different sizes for their treehouse concept, a 100 m3 unit, and another 65 m3 unit. Built on a grid system of .30 m and .40m, the treehouses were sized and measured respectively. The treehouse’s modular structure gives each of them a geometric look. The countryside treehouse unit’s high-pitched roof in the shape of a triangle appears to be constructed from wooden panes, allowing for high ceilings while each unit’s cube-shaped main room, reinforced with steel beams, implements broad glass window panes for unfettered views of the countryside.

Designer: Forma Atelier

Through an intricate weaving process of cross-layered timber as its foundation, Forma Atelier’s treehouse maintains stability.

Sweeping glass window panes and high ceilings bring residents closer to the surrounding countryside and dissolve the boundary between nature and the indoors.

Sporting a geometric build that seamlessly transitions from one facade to the next, each treehouse unit is like its own miniature wooden castle.

The 100 m3 treehouse unit floor plan.

The 100 m3 treehouse unit floor plan.

One side view of the 100 m3 treehouse unit.

Another side view of the 100 m3 treehouse unit.

The 65 m3 treehouse unit floor plan.

The 65 m3 treehouse unit floor plan.

One side view of the 65 m3 treehouse unit.

Another side view of the 65 m3 treehouse unit.

This futuristic vehicle design facilitates irrigation, agriculture and education

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Well, 2020 is getting really annoying by the day so I am going to look towards the future. Since I am always told to focus the bright side and be hopeful about the future when the present isn’t great, let’s do it through the design lens. Project Outreach is a modular transport vehicle that was designed to support and develop rural infrastructure in 2045 (of course, this is a concept design so don’t send me an email after 25 years). The conceptual vehicle has a very Tesla-esque aesthetic, it is futuristic without being aggressive like the Cybertruck.

Developing nations need a tech boost to uplift themselves. If the land is mostly flat, the infrastructure is not that hard to create but there are many nations like Africa that have a variety of massive landscapes that will need powerful machines like Project Outreach to do it efficiently. The vehicle’s main aim is reaching out as the name suggests. The goal is to reach the communities in need and provide supplies to facilitate rural development by being a one-stop-shop through its multifunctional modules – Water Mod, Plant Mod, Work Mod are just a few examples. This is meant for micro-communities and the staff will deliver the module to them and change it out when needed.

The Water Mod is equipped with irrigation and sanitation technology to help areas where there is a draught or generally improve water crisis. The Plant Mod comes with agricultural tools to help seed crops in a controlled environment and provide relief for food shortage. The Work Mod is more for research, study, educational needs, and providing a small living quarter. The concept design is something that will be a blessing to refugee communities. Imagine how one vehicle can be a school for a small group of children who have nothing else to hold on to, provide food and water in a crisis with capabilities to expand into a medical space if needed.

Project Outreach makes me hopeful about a future where can empower those who communities who were hard to reach out to. It may be a design but it radiates values and morals that are rooted deeply in kindness and making a positive change – after all, isn’t that what humanity is all about? We don’t have a wand but we have imagination, design thinking and equipment to make it happen so I’ll say that is close enough.

Designer: Alexander Edgington

A $1 billion initiative aims to bring EV chargers to highways and rural areas

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While Tesla, Electrify America and others technically have nationwide EV charging networks, they don't really provide full coverage -- many rural areas are far from any kind of charger infrastructure. ChargePoint believes it can help close that gap,...

FCC commits $20.4 billion to help close the rural digital divide

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Over the next 10 years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will spend $20.4 billion to bring high-speed broadband internet to underserved rural America. "This is the biggest step we've taken to close the digital divide," FCC Chairman Ajit Pa...

FCC rolls out a $9 billion fund for rural 5G connectivity

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The FCC is creating a $9 billion 5G Fund to support rural high-speed connectivity. The funding is intended to help carriers deploy 5G in hard-to-serve areas, those that are sparsely populated and/or have rugged terrain. At least $1 billion will be re...

A backpack for rural schoolchildren that converts into a writing desk!

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Developed for schools in rural India, where it’s still pretty common for students to sit on the floor and study, Deskit provides children with a writing table attached right to their backpack. The standard canvas backpack comes with a collapsible hard-surface and legs built right into its front, giving kids a prop-up schooldesk to write on with their backpack right beside it, making it easier to access books and supplies while at school. Designed for PROSOC Innovation, the schoolbags are affordable as well as lightweight, enabling children with the tools to help them study better and more comfortably. Today, more than 20,000 school children are using DESKIT in ten different Indian states!

Designer: Eshan Sadasivan forPROSOC

FCC task force will help connect farms and ranches

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Today, the FCC announced a task force meant to support the deployment of broadband across unserved farms and ranches. The Precision Ag Connectivity Task Force will work with the US Department of Agriculture and public and private sector stakeholders....