palisades glacier mountain hut competition
The Palisades Glacier Mountain Hut project flows from the European concept of a wilderness structure providing communal overnight shelter. The term mountain hut is applied to relatively large structures, typically with shared sleeping and toilet facilities. The concept for this building type was developed in the 19th century. Mountain huts are now widely used throughout the world.
North American approaches to mountaineering and wilderness recreation have developed as a less structured, less communal activity typically involving tent camping. With increased recreational activities in wilderness areas, temporary campsites create problems of pollution and degradation of the pristine natural experience sought. A new paradigm is required for the wilderness base camp and for the wilderness experience itself.
The exterior shell is an open, expandable, and malleable frame that is secured with adjustable interior cables. Strung to the interior is a walking surface that regulates how the live loads are applied to the structure. In addition, fabric tubes run across the space within, both breaking up the larger volume and offering surfaces to catch projections.
These issues are becoming important in all regions of the world, with the worldwide growth in adventure travel. Simultaneous with new approaches to wilderness recreation, new approaches to the mountain hut must move beyond the 19th century models toward more technologically advanced structures better able to preserve and sustain the natural areas surrounding them.
At the same time that increasing numbers of people wish to experience endangered wilderness areas, advances in technology offer ideas, products and systems that may promote more harmonious interaction between human beings and natural environments. The goal of this competition is to produce a new concept for the mountain hut, incorporating technological solutions that will minimize resource consumption and pollution, while maintaining a rich human experience of wilderness. The mountain hut condenses issues of social interaction, and individual experience of nature. Ideas developed for this small structure may be extrapolated to broader issues in the relationship between human society, nature and technology.
Competition entries are encouraged to address the following issues:
* Critical approaches to innovation and experimentation
* Courage in challenging existing paradigms and expectations
* Technical attention to construction systems and bio-mechanical infrastructure in harmony with natural eco-systems (system diagrams are encouraged)
* Creative programming of intense human experience
