URBAN RURAL EXCHANGE

During the 20th century, the development of industry, guided by values of optimum efficiency, changed the world structure a lot. Life in the big city has become convenient but people also feel suffocated by being fully dependent on services provided by industrial networks One of the reactions of urban inhabitants is the rediscovering of new value in farming. On the other hand, rural areas are confronting shrinking and aging populations. The lack of a breadwinner, in the form of a primary industry, threatens the village’s landscape. Meanwhile, there are very few opportunities for disabled people to find jobs. Urban Rural Exchange is a challenge to open the farming process and allow people with various backgrounds to participate, helping to generate a new type of membership. Two facilities have been realized and another project is underway, following the concept of discovering local resources and making them more accessible.
1. Koisurubuta Laboratory is a ham-sausage factory and restaurant, for tasting local pork. The villa typology is reinterpreted, where people from both the city and the farm encounter each other.
2. Kurimoto Daiichi Firewood Supply Station maintains an abandoned cedar forest and farm next to the Koisurubuta Laboratory, producing firewood and sweet potato on site. Here the large space of the barn typology is reinterpreted as a shelter in order to welcome large numbers of people.
3. Diversity Camp Site Project is in the adjacent forest, providing accommodation and activities in the area. All the facilities create working opportunities for disabled people and for those released from prison, yet they do not appear as social welfare facilities, in the landscape nor in the eyes of visitors.