January's Blueprint uncovers rural regions that are rich areas for experimentation. For the cover story, Peter Kelly travels to poverty-stricken Hale County in Alabama to meet Andrew Freear and his students at the Rural Studio. The new Akron Boys and Girls Club, with its mix of cheap materials and innovative details, is a perfect example of the studio’s rigourous and experimental approach to building for the local community.

In rural Russia, Nicolai Polissky constructs land-art structures from found materials, with the help of local peasants. Also in Russia, Clementine Cecil meets Moscow-based non-conformist Boris Bernaskoni, who recently achieved recognition when he won the competition for a new museum in Russia.

Keeping with the experimental theme, London-based Matthew Srpingett Associates recently travelled to County Cork, Ireland, where they built a shelter using plastic raincoats in a three-day design and build project. Vicky Richardson explores how the practice is creating its own research and development programme in order to challenge its existing methods of working.

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