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The design emerges as compartmentalised model that builds on being self-sufficient, flexible and mobile.

The structure is a temporary habitat that pairs technology and sustainability to provide comfort and refuge to tourist scalin

The designers have identified many spots in the Alpine Mountainsabove 3000m where the shelters can be located.

The windows are strategically located to frame the panoramic vistas of the mountains.

The energy efficiency charted to accommodate one spatiality.

The structure is a temporary habitat that pairs technology and sustainability to provide comfort and refuge to tourist scalin

The design emerges as compartmentalised model that builds on being self-sufficient, flexible and mobile.

The energy efficiency charted to accommodate one spatiality.

The designers have identified many spots in the Alpine Mountainsabove 3000m where the shelters can be located.

The windows are strategically located to frame the panoramic vistas of the mountains.

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Eco temporary refuge designed by Switzerland-based CiminiArchitettura exhibits a deft understanding of how to manipulate a temporary structure to flexible, habitable and self-sustainable sensibilities.

In a space of less than a decade, the recluse destinations of the world are becoming populated. Waves of tourists have adopted these places; be it the vast expanses of the deserts or snow-clad mountain peaks as symbols of adventure and tourism. The impact of this dramatic incline calls is reinterpreted in form of insensitive constructs in the high mountains causing an imbalance in the ecosystem.

Eco temporary refuge has pursued a contrasting solution as a crossover of the same services but driven by a sustainable agenda. The design refers to an Utopian model that builds on being self-sufficient, flexible and mobile. The conceptual framework involves an assemblage, made in the factory and transported by a helicopter. The iterative process greatly affects the cause, negotiating a zero impact on the environment. Within the site area, the structure, weighing 25KN is anchored on pillars, conditioned to the nature of the soil. The spatial suitability amongst the rugged peaks is afforded through a ‘table-top’ created via a system of ‘pillar tires’. The primary strategy hangs on the intent of minimal disturbance in the eco-system and creating a refuge which can be removed easily.  The apparent planning of the zoning lies on various hubs and routes that avid climbers choose on their journeys.

In keeping their commitment to experimentation, the design has been embedded with revolutionary techniques that coalesce with the locale environ. The configuration employs sensitive yet imaginative solutions to render human comfort and habitation in the extreme weather. Emodying the very essence of technological landscapes today, the composite manifests an underfloor heating system powered by 4 KW solar panels, an electrical system, appliances and an inventive system transformation of snow into drinking water. The structure does not gravitate any avoidance to the snow in its approach. But instead, as a plane of connectivity, commands it to achieve refined thermal insulation through layering. It also facilitates hot and potable water. At the same time, it descends into a sewage treatment plant as a recycle-re-use imperative.  A reserve of bioethanol has also been provisioned for emergency needs. The strategic locations of the windows are minimal- devised only conjunct to the panoramic views available in accordance with each site.  The material palette is restrained and selective. A finish of spruce wood is derived from the maintenance and securing of forests. Low-emissivity glass is used that restricts positive ‘greenhouse gases’ to increase temperatures in the interiors. Combined to this purpose, a curtain thermal insulation is also included. In summer, the technology repeats and reverses its formulation- a system of opening and ventilation exists. The regulating and honing of the details of the structure unveil interactions with climbers for user-friendly approaches; technique derivation from mechanical diggers and consideration of avalanches and wind atop the mountains.

Elaborating on the distribution of network designed behind the main structure, the architect says,” During transport, the pillars are in the central module. The planned number of flights per year for transportation varies from 2 to 4 depending on the events. The helicopters will be those of mountain rescue who daily patrol the landscape.”

The dichotomy of the functions is expressed in the fact that apart from being an ideal reality amidst the identified alpine sites over 3000m in summers, it will be transported to the valley floor in winters and used as an information point on mountain safety for skiers. A rectilinear modernist box- Eco-temporary refuge is essentially a refinement of core principles of exchange of knowledge, self-sustainability and efficiency. A re-configurable model, it pairs ingenious technological innovation with a singular image of improving the perception of the mountaineer towards sustainable living and as point of view on the landscape. It evolves as a notion of pioneering technology to establish a compartmentalised narrative of sustainable leverages that can be inflated to any scale.

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