丨匈牙利

Hello Wood's "Project Village" shifts architectural focus from urban to rural

A Hello Wood team member helps build the Project Village (via flickr).

What is a village? More importantly, how rapidly can one be formed? The 150 academics, students and practicing architects participating in Project Village set out to answer these questions by constructing an entire community in a week, including a stage, a

pub

, and a residential building.

Because the team, led by

Hello Wood

, was assembled from a group of multi-national participants, there was no pre-existing notion of one national architectural heritage. The resulting installations therefore reflected a globalized 21st century cultural context within the sparse infrastructure of a rural setting, and correspondingly referenced issues such as private property, immigration, and multi-faith communities.

Project Village, which debuted in

Hungary

, is the first stage of a three year process. According to a press release, "During the first phase the creators have established a Village that’s primarily focusing on engaging with communities, generating social interactions and testing it as a public space. In the next chapter in 2016, the Village will expand, evolve, find its borders, and defend itself if needed. In the final year of the Project Village cycle, parts of the settlement will be conserved, reused, revitalized, deconstructed."