The Maku trailer is a lightweight, multi-use camper that’s currently being used as a mobile radio station to capture the sounds of nature throughout Japan.

Camping trailers can be used for a variety of purposes–from remote living to transporting goods. The potential for trailers begins and ends as far as your imagination takes you. Typically, trailers are mobile homes that keep a small size that designers maximize through minimalism and built-in multifunctional furniture. Finding promise in an array of different possibilities, Japanese designer Taichi Kuma constructed a lightweight mobile unit from aluminum that can be used as a house, remote workspace, and even a radio station.

Calling it the Maku trailer, Kuma’s mobile trailer finds durability through an aluminum frame that’s draped in layers of PTFE membrane for protection against the elements. Kuma also incorporated a transparent glass fiber insulation mat that’s positioned in between two membrane layers. The fiber insulation mat allows for year-round adaptability against extreme weather and temperatures.

The membrane layers and insulation mat are both translucent to optimize the amount of natural sunlight pouring in from outside. With this, the Maku trailer glows like a warm lantern at night when interior lighting is turned on. Measuring only 3.3 m by 1.8 m, the Maku trailer keeps a slightly untraditional cubic shape, with a roof that gradually inclines for lofty ceiling heights.

While the small size and lightweight nature of the Maku trailer offer plenty of adaptability and versatility between uses, Kuma imagines the Maku trailer as a mobile radio station. Traveling through Japan, those residing inside the Maku trailer will collect the sounds of nature to stream them from anywhere.

The roll-up door provides easy access to the trailer’s interior space.

The PTFE membrane and translucent glass insulation layers are designed to maximize the available natural sunlight. 

When interior lighting is turned on, the Maku trailer glows like a lantern at night. 

Cars of any size and make can attach to the Maku trailer for optimal transportation.

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