Tools for Radical Ruralism
Methods for co-creation, collective building, and design that emerges from place.
This page introduces the practical methods Kathryn Larsen uses to activate communities, build ownership, and translate complex architectural questions into accessible, hands-on processes.
These tools combine art, collage, material exploration, storytelling, and co-building - enabling residents, students, municipalities, and organizations to shape their own built environments.
Each tool has been tested through Eskilstrup Kulturhus, public workshops, university teaching, and international collaborations.
Co-Creation Workshops
Collage and Coloring as a Participatory Tool
Kathryn uses collage and pre-designed coloring activities to translate architectural ideas into an accessible format that anyone can engage with.
Residents assemble images, materials, and historical references to express atmosphere, belonging, and priorities - far beyond what traditional architectural drawings can capture.
This method has been central to Eskilstrup Kulturhus, intergenerational workshops, and cultural heritage storytelling.
Co-Building & Collective Prototyping
Hands-on building sessions allow participants to shape elements of a future project: simple timber structures, interior details, murals, or material experiments.
These sessions:
build pride and ownership
reveal local talent
strengthen community bonds
produce tangible prototypes that accelerate decision-making
Art as a Framework
for Social Gatherings
Murals, printmaking, public art, and visual storytelling become bridges between generations and communities.
Art is not decoration - it’s a tool for activating space, lowering social barriers, and establishing a shared emotional language for shaping a project together.
Kathryn’s design process begins with on-site observation - walking, listening, sketching, and collecting sensory impressions that rarely appear in formal reports. Through hand-drawn mappings, layered sketches, and field-note annotation, she captures the relationships between buildings, people, landscapes, and everyday rhythms.
These analogue methods allow her to zoom out and understand place as a living system: seasonal patterns, informal gathering spots, material traces, soundscapes, and the social infrastructures that shape community life. By combining sketches with notes, archival fragments, and conversations, Kathryn builds a holistic picture of local values and constraints that can inform both small-scale interventions and strategic architectural decisions.
