Winner: Design Project of the Year and installation design of the year 2025. Practice on Earth and Increments Studio have designed Down in the Clouds, three rural pavilions that blend inflatables and steel to form a playful dialogue of lightness and structure amid China's rice fields.

Down in the Clouds is a lighthearted rural intervention in Dun'ao Village, transforming three abandoned utility sites into playful agritourism landmarks.

Combining prefabricated steel containers with inflatables, the project reimagines rapid-build architecture through poetic spatial experiences – ranging from a cloud-like canopy café and a leaning cinema to a semi-outdoor reading room.

Each pavilion establishes a unique dialogue between body, landscape and material, offering a fresh perspective on rural revitalisation through tactile curiosity and design experimentation.

All components were prefabricated in specialised factories in China and assembled on-site by a local construction team, with close collaboration between the design team and the manufacturers during multiple rounds of prototyping and testing.

Studio: Practice on Earth and Increments Studio
Project: Down in the Clouds