Putting architecture into the hands of the people in a country where home ownership is typically out of reach, this studio has some incredibly innovative ideas, from modular units that ‘plug in’ to the envelopes of historic buildings to unexpected uses for cheap and plentiful materials. These 10 projects by People’s Architecture Office explore the convenience of prefabrication, multipurpose objects and the brilliance of simplicity while still offering structures that are bright, fresh, airy and comfortable.

Courtyard House

In Beijing, a whole lot of historic architecture has simply been cast aside in favor of newer, cleaner, more spacious suburban housing. Once-vibrant neighborhoods lacking in simple infrastructure like sewer systems are being left behind and neglected, growing more and more dilapidated. PAO has one solution: modern modular units that simply ‘plug in’ to the existing architecture to make it more livable. In the case of ‘Courtyard House,’ the original buildings are used like an envelope for newer structures that can be quickly, cheaply and easy assembled on-site.

Plugin House

The firm carried the same concept over to ‘Plugin House,’ which slots onto a tiny, awkwardly shaped plot in a traditional ‘hutong’ alleyway. The prefabricated panels used to create these structures already have insulation, plumbing, windows, doors, wiring, interior and exterior finishes built in, and they snap and lock together with no more than a single hex wrench. People who no prior construction experience can put one of these houses together in 24 hours, and it costs less than $10,000.

Plugin Tower

Plugin Tower is another PAO project that easily fits into existing urban environments, and gets around the difficulty of stable housing in China, where land is held exclusively by the government and building private homes is only affordable to the wealthy. This structure requires no foundation, so it doesn’t need planning approval, and it can be picked up and moved to a new location. The prefabricated steel frame comes in a kit of parts, and the modular living units just plug right in. You can rearrange it however you like and expand it when necessary.

Container Pavilion

Shipping containers are cheap, easy to procure, highly stackable, customizable and a breeze to transport, so it’s no surprise that PAO has made use of them. This cantilevered pavilion consists of six yellow units overlapping six red units in a perpendicular arrangement, creating shaded areas on the ground and a series of rooftop recreation spaces. The ends of each unit are glazed for views of the city and sightless through the entire building.

Hutong Insert: Beijing Culture and Art Center

PAO uses its skills in inserting modular units into historic structures in their proposal for the Beijing Culture and Art Center, set within a traditional hutong house. A competition to design the project called for a solution that would renovate the building while retaining as much of its original character as possible; PAO’s proposal makes it easy to add lots of interior space without disturbing much of the outer structure at all.

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Architecture For The People 10 Subversive And Imaginative Designs For China

A few are far-fetched, but most of these notices are shocking in part because they are nearly believable – some may be an accepted reality within the next few years (click to enlarge).

Collected on signsfromthenearfuture, a Tumblr blog, their subjects range from driverless cars and solar roadways to cryogenic stations and hyperloop trains.

Some are clearly tongue-in-cheek commentary on current social behavior and perceived threats to privacy, or based on science-fiction principles unlikely to materialize, but who knows. Others you may be seeing very soon on streets and in other public places (alas, probably not the one about jetpack rentals).

Subverting the shopping cart, this urban installation is a play on consumer culture and its cyclical nature. Of course, it is also a lot of fun to play with, too.

Set in a public plaza of Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal, the piece aims to subconsciously attract people to playfully interact in the unlikely desert of a cobblestone square, all around a lone lamppost no less. Modular and assembled on-site, the installation could conceivably be deployed just about anywhere.

“By counteracting the freedom of movement that normally characterizes these carts (ironically moving in circles) we are reminded that consumerism does not take us anywhere… or [at best back to our] starting point.” says Nuno Pimenta.

Whether or not the message is clear to the passerby, the function, at least, is self-explanatory. People readily realize they can push the carts, ride in them and go around in a circle just like a miniature park carousel or its classic carnival-ride equivalent.

The Gray Ghost haunts New Orleans with a vengeance, adding his own Dada-esque anti-art to walls everywhere, graying out graffiti with his own incidentally artistic approach. Paradox and contradiction abound in the curious work of this vigilante painter.

He tackles vapid political slogans and badly-rendered lettering alike, foiling artists and anarchists while adding his own clear opinion to the mix. Just like taggers cover tags, he layers on meaning, weighing in with silent commentary … especially in his clashes with the infamous Banksy. Some love him for cleaning up the streets, others for adding a new kind of art to the mix, and still others hate him for defacing beautiful works by other artists.

“To bring this back into concrete terms: The Grey Ghost is only following the rules of “the street” construct, contesting with other street artists and graffiti writers for the use of the public space as a platform; it just so happens that his platform is the antithesis of form, color and message (thus becoming a message in and of itself).”

To accuse him of being anti-street-art, while he participates very much in the creation (and creative destruction) of the same, is to deny his critical roll in adding to the organic and evolving nature of the medium. Just erasing graffiti does not always endear him to the establishment, either – he has been arrested for himself defacing privately owned or even explicitly-commissioned works by Banksy and others.

Writes Michael Martin, a Masters of Urban Planning student at the University of New Orleans and author on CulturalUrbanism.org, of the Grey Ghost (real name: Fred Radtke): “His possession of mind and spirit is often at odds with certain artistic sensibilities, but is that not the criteria we have for other revolutionary artists? So destructive and graphic and stubborn in their vision that only time can reveal the true depth of their (often maniacal) genius.”

When the games are in town, street art abounds, with locals and visitors alike responding to the huge city-shifting influx of infrastructure and viewers.

For his part, UK-native (but international man of mystery) Banksy mixed in his traditional themes of war and oppression, or remixed them, as it were, in a fresh(ly painted) take on this global spectacle. Still, this work goes a bit beyond your typical Banksy pieces, incorporating actual objects in the mix.

Typical bunting, for instance, breaks down and becomes part of a commentary on child labor, also mixing mediums to incorporate real three-dimensional flags overlaid on a two-dimensional stencil. A pole vaulter appears to be jumping a barbed-wire metal fence, intent on landing on an old discarded mattress.

One has to wonder if there are more works on the way, or extant but simply yet to be featured on his website – the consumerism around the Olympic Games seems like a hard mark to pass up for someone intent on related commentary.