Watermelon Place
'Watermelon Place' is a canopy structure designed during the annual Architectural Association's Koshirakura workshop, one of the AA’s longest-running international initiatives that engages a dwindling post- agricultural community in rural Niigata, Japan.
The 'Watermelon Place' project is a canopy structure with reclaimed timber water channels that direct water into a foot sink, revitalizing a local spring used for drinking and washing watermelons, while creating a vibrant space that enhances a cherished village landscape.
Construction in progress using locally sourced timber
Timber sink with a wooden water channel directing fresh water stream into designed concrete-cast pebble basin
Hirosun, a local villager, enjoying the fresh spring water after the completion of canopy structure and repair of public water channel and sink