Known for playful, cutting-edge designs that transform everyday items into the extraordinary, architect Oki Sato and his Tokyo- and Milan-based design firm, Nendo, are no strangers to tackling social issues. There’s the that addresses poverty in sports, and that seeks to reduce plastic use. But with one of its latest design projects, Petit Market, Nendo is turning its attention to creating a modern version of the mujinhanbaijo, or unmanned farm stand.
“I think it is very interesting that unattended sales booths have existed in Japan for a long time,” Sato says, “but that there seems to be a new need for them in this day and age. I was also fascinated by the fact that this was an item that had never been designed before, and I felt that there was a high possibility that the power of design could bring out its potential.”
A common feature of rural areas, the unmanned farm stands provide growers and producers an additional outlet for their produce and give consumers a hyper-local alternative to supermarkets or big box store produce sections.
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