AMO, the think tank co-founded by Rem Koolhaas and directed by Samir Bantal, presented during the exhibition “Countryside, the Future”, now on display at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the first project of a partnership with Volkswagen.

It is an electric tractor designed especially for sub-Saharan Africa, as a tool to facilitate small-scale farming and the productivity of subsistence farmers. For now, the project is still in the concept phase, but the next step in this collaboration is to interface with local investors and universities in order to become aware of the needs of the context.

“Volkswagen’s interest in the countryside” says Samir Bantal, director of AMO “has triggered a new research collaboration that will spawn several projects through cross-pollinations between architecture, which is traditionally about stability, and Volkswagens expertise on mobility”. The vehicle will not be sold to individuals, but is designed instead to be shared between the various farmers in a village. Will be used a removable battery, which can be charged through special solar panel structures.