aldo cibic: rural urbanism at rethinking happiness

‘rethinking happiness’ is a research project showing 4 different new possible communities on a total suface of 40mq. curated by italian architect and designer aldo cibic, the model is presented at the 12th venice architecture biennale under the theme ‘people meet in architecture’ curated by kazuyo seijima.

‘rural urbanism’ image © designboom rural urbanism the city enters the countryside, the country enters the city.

one hour from shanghai, a large rural territory with an ancient agricultural tradition is crushed between a growing industrial zone and a new city.

the idea is to create an agricultural park of 4 sq km inhabited by 8000 persons with low-density residential structures, preserving the agriculture and offering green spaces for the inhabitants. the project calls for a group of elevated buildings on the streets, to create a perpendicular grid that floats over the countryside.

in the middle of this ‘agricultural central park’ there are specialized farms that produce crops for the sustainable, profitable development of the countryside. the challenge is to create a new community with shared services, new activities and relationships, in tune with the territory.

project elements:

1. wishing tree 2. lo shu + holy field 3. belvedere 4. drying platform 5. rainwater fountain 6. barn 7. bird houses 8. hay barn 9. picnic pavillion 10. golf driving range + agricultural staging station 11. water taxi 12. bamboo court 13. swimming pool 14. aquaculture 15. water plaza 16. main canal 17. acrobats theater 18. excange plaza 19. labirinth + bike parking 20. farm area 21. pedestrian and bike path 22. orchard 23. elevated housing 24. badminton + parking 25. minigolf + parking 26. water court 27. bamboo bascket field 28. fragrance court 29. car parking 30. streets path under elevated housing

detail of the model image © designboom