Versatile Toolkit for Rural Applications

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Versatile Toolkit for Rural Applications *

Arid desert landscape with dirt and scattered rocks in foreground, dark mountain range in the background, and clear blue sky.

2024

Draa Valley, Morocco

The Versatile Toolkit for Rural Applications is a modular design system paired with an illustrated assembly guide intended to bridge language barriers in multilingual and low-literacy contexts. Initially developed in response to research in rural Morocco, the project addresses the need for adaptable, easily understood tools that empower users to create structures and supports that fit their specific needs.

Illustration of a guide for tying knots on bamboo poles, with step-by-step diagrams, and an outdoor scene with two people, one carrying a basket and the other sitting with a patterned cloth on a bench, in front of a poster titled »Versatile Toolkit for Rural Applications."
Step-by-step assembly instructions for a wooden folding chair. The diagram shows disassembled wooden slats, tools, and assembly steps with numbered stages from 1 to 6.
 

At its core, the project consists of a flexible kit of parts — simple components that can be assembled and reassembled into multiple configurations. The system enables the construction of temporary shelters, shading devices, water-related structures, and other functional forms, encouraging community-led adaptation over prescriptive design.

A key focus of the project is its visual instruction language. Through clear, universally legible graphics, the toolkit provides step-by-step assembly guidance without reliance on text, making it accessible to users regardless of language or literacy level. This approach promotes local agency and creativity, allowing the system to evolve organically through community use.

Ultimately, the Versatile Toolkit for Rural Applications proposes a model of design that is not only adaptable in form, but also in communication — supporting resilience, self-sufficiency, and knowledge-sharing in rural settings around the world.

Place-making

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Place-making *

  • Two men dressed in traditional Middle Eastern attire are walking in a desert landscape with palm trees and mountains in the background, crossing swords.
  • Two farmers working in a field with palm trees and a stone wall in the background. One is bending over, and the other is using a hoe.
  • Illustration of a man in traditional Middle Eastern attire praying and a man in Middle Eastern attire holding a camera, with a camel in the background, on a desert landscape with mountains and a palm tree.
  • Illustration of two men sitting inside a tent with a palm tree in the desert.

Drying Rack

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Drying Rack *

  • A person working on a railway track in a desert landscape with a palm tree and mountains in the background.
  • A person dressed in a dark robe and sandals walking in a desert with mountains in the background and a carrier on their head.
  • A woman in dark clothing standing on the ground, washing her hair in a basin near a wall. She is outside a tan building, with another person sitting on a striped bench, wearing a blue robe and headscarf, holding a cellphone. There are rocks and a wall in the background.
  • A person wearing a blanket over their head, standing near a makeshift clothesline with orange clothing hanging, against a backdrop of a mountain and a large orange sun.

Rain Collection

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Rain Collection *

  • Illustration of a construction site foundation with wooden formwork in place for concrete pouring, a level tool, and an orange safety vest hanging on the formwork.
  • A person in an orange coat and hood stands outdoors in a beige courtyard at his construction site, laying the foundation of a building. The person is holding a wooden straight edge.
  • An illustration of a construction worker measuring a wooden plank with a handheld tool on a concrete surface next to a wooden staircase and wall.
  • A garden hammock with blue fabric, supported by wooden posts, placed on a gravel surface near a brick wall and staircase.