Panorama Cabin
Walk through the forest. Reach the shelter. Process the information.
The small space of the floor plan accommodates a very well lit area: that of a typical living room, fitting the size of the overall construction. No need to be scared, as the smaller, upper story is in a very special relationship with the outside: skylights frame the south in amazing panoramas, letting the human body relate directly to the sunlight - awaking at sunrise is something our bodies are actually designed to do.
The access, sole door opening in the west facade is articulated by a thinner opening of a window, allowing the sunset rays of light to enter the cabin. Inside, the space invites one to sit and relax, by admiring the southern views. A small ladder leads one to the upper level and the space under it becomes a depository area, for both temporary inhabitants and permanent ones (storage of the PV system batteries). Aside from being well lit (above - southern skylights, as well as two full level-height windows), the space is warmed up by the required woodstove. Also, the gaps in the upper level ceiling allow the heating of both spaces, especially the above, for warm air goes upwards.
The façades remain basic: west - access, south - large glazed surfaces on both levels, east - upper level benefits from a kind of opening similar to the west one, but larger as it is unattached to another element, allowing the first rays of sunlight to enter the bedroom area, and finally north - no openings except for the small venting hole recommended for the battery storage area, masked by the tin layer of the façade. Materiality wise, the façades combine tin, wood and glass in a ... natural order: the northern façade actually becomes a protecting cover growing over the little cabin, in the same way less abstract and more natural materials once protected less developed forms.
Cut to the bone, the proposal reconfigures the idea of limit between human and nature, up to the point where security is assured, in some places just by glass layers and sunrays enter the space wherever allowed. As the walk through the forest comes to an end and the shelter is inhabited yet again, the experience of nature in a comfy space becomes a greater lesson than a memory.
(Competitor's text)
7 scanned / 6 viewable
- Perspective
- Schema
- Site Plan
- Plan
- Section
- Perspective
