第五十五届国际建筑双年展在5月26日星期四揭幕了在威尼斯的阿森纳现场建造的一个droneport的全尺寸原型。这个droneport原型是诺曼·福斯特基金会提出的第一个项目。该建议是建立一个无人机网络，向非洲地区提供医疗用品和其他必需品，这些地区由于缺乏道路或其他基础设施而难以进入，而且雄心勃勃的是，非洲和其他新兴经济体的每个小镇都将在2030年之前有自己的droneport。今年将推出的试点项目总部设在卢旺达，这个国家的身体和社会地理环境面临着多重挑战。到2020年完成的三座建筑物的初步计划将使网络能够向卢旺达的44％提供物资。该项目的后续阶段可以看到卢旺达境内超过40架，而该国的中心位置可以更容易地扩展到刚果等邻国，从而节省数千人的生命。开罗红线货运无线电网络创始人Jonathan Ledgard是瑞士联邦洛桑技术研究所（EPFL）开发的一个概念，由于将机场设计经验和飞行知识结合起来，与Norman Foster合作，帆板，直升机和飞机。福斯特与福斯特+合作伙伴的同事Narinder Sagoo和Roger Ridsdill Smith分享了挑战。与他们的团队合作，模块化的拱形系统的基础发展。它已经落到了诺曼·福斯特基金会的基础上，将其推向早期的可行性阶段，并且导致了现在的团队将其设计，设计和实施到现实。福斯特+伙伴公司董事长兼创始人福斯特福斯特基金会主席福斯特福斯特基金会主席：“非洲是人口与基础设施增长之间的差距呈指数级增长的大陆。地面基础设施的缺乏对提供生命用品的能力有直接的影响，实际上在血液基础上并不总是可及时处理。我们需要立即大胆，激进的解决方案来解决这个问题。 Droneport项目是关于通过无人机技术（通常与战争和敌对行动相联系的）最近的进步来利用“更少的”来实现在非洲立即的挽救生命的影响。卢旺达具有挑战性的地理和社会环境使其成为Droneport项目的理想测试台。这个项目可以在本世纪产生巨大的影响，挽救生命。“
A full-scale prototype for a droneport, built on site in the Arsenale in Venice, was unveiled at the 15th International Architecture Biennale on Thursday 26 May. The droneport prototype is the first project to be presented by The Norman Foster Foundation. The proposal is to create a network of droneports to deliver medical supplies and other necessities to areas of Africa that are difficult to access due to a lack of roads or other infrastructure and the ambition is that every small town in Africa and in other emerging economies will have its own droneport by 2030. The pilot project – which will be launched this year – is based in Rwanda, a country whose physical and social geography poses multiple challenges. The initial plan for three buildings, to be completed by 2020, will enable the network to send supplies to 44 per cent of Rwanda. Subsequent phases of the project could see in excess of 40 droneports across Rwanda, and the country’s central location could allow easier expansion to neighbouring countries such as Congo, saving many thousands more lives. Jonathan Ledgard, Founder of the Pioneering Redline Cargo Drone Network, a concept he developed at the Swiss federal institute of technology in Lausanne (EPFL), approached Norman Foster with the concept because of his combination of airport design experience and knowledge of flight as a pilot of sailplanes, helicopters and aircraft. Foster then shared the challenge with his colleagues Narinder Sagoo and Roger Ridsdill Smith at Foster + Partners. Working with their teams, the basis of a modular vaulted system evolved. It has fallen to The Norman Foster Foundation to advance it beyond early feasibility stage and has led to the present team to design, engineer and implement the project through to a built reality. Lord Foster, Chairman and Founder of Foster + Partners and Chairman, The Norman Foster Foundation: “Africa is a continent where the gap between the population and infrastructural growth is increasing exponentially.
