Thailand billboards can be used to build homes when they’re not in use

The Other Side campaign has modified road-side advertisements so they can be repurposed as the materials for homes of poor people in the country.

We recently wrote about one innovative use of billboards – the Scribe Billboard – which housed the artist while they worked on designing a new commercial. Taking a philanthropic approach, Thailand’s The Other Side campaign has modified road-side advertisements so they can be repurposed into homes for poor people in the country. Conceived by BBDO Bangkok for Thailand-based DIY store HomePro, the creators of the initiative realized that those who can’t afford proper accommodation were using old advertisement boards as makeshift walls for their homes. Instead of its usual road-side billboards, HomePro called on the creative agency to build more sturdy boards which had the advertisement on one side, with pleasant wallpaper and fittings such as shelves and hangers on the other. When those scavenging for materials eventually took the boards, they were able to create a safer home as well as enjoy more pleasant and practical surroundings. The video below shows how the campaign worked: The Other Side project helped market HomePro as a business with social concerns, and helped the poor communities of Thailand build better homes. However, how could this kind of activity be sustained? Is there a gap for billboards to be redesigned with reuse in mind? Spotted by: Murray Orange