The project proposes in an abstract way the natural habitat in which man will live in the future: a wild refuge without preconceived rules, a quick and instinctive sign referring to the moment when the man had the intuition to carefully put together some wooden branches giving rise to architecture for the first time.

The dwelling of the future will be a changeable environment capable of adapting physically to human needs: man will no longer have to adapt to a pre-established house or space. In fact, the designed planimetric conformation is based on a random system that put into question the classical structural hierarchy between the architectural elements that define it. A system that is never closed but that turns out to be adaptable by assuming different spatial configurations for an increasingly dynamic and ever more “minimum” lifestyle of the future.

Thanks to the random parametric fragmentation of the architectural elements, an atmosphere characterized by lights and shadows is created, evoking the peace and tranquility given by the typical forest covers, where the vegetation grows spontaneously and whose natural refuge becomes the emblem of reconciliation between man and nature (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe – E. Manet, 1863).

Wood is the only material used for this installation that consists of CLT beams with a rectangular cross-section 5x15cm and of variable length that are overlapped and interlocked in an orthogonal way and then fixed using custom dowels limiting the use of screws. These elements give rise to an essential and elemental architecture defining a grid - the net - a technology metaphor that will support the man of the future.

As time goes by people no longer need only physical dwellings but as social beings we always feel a greater need for spaces in which to develop a sense of community where we can be together and share common experiences and resources. The inhabitants of the Next shelter will be the protagonists of future imaginative scenarios in which nature will reclaim the artificial space in a new primitive era through the live engagement made possible thanks to the adoption of experiential technology (such as augmented reality).

The project combines a place of domestic intimacy (home) and a place of sharing (piazza) through a system of adaptable and dynamic elements for an architecture of the future: a natural oasis in which man - free from every artifice and assisted exclusively by digital technology- returns to its origins in harmony with its habitat and finding refuge from the artificial world.

Credits:

Name: The Next Shelter

Type: Temporary Pavilion

Design: SET Architects

Team: Lorenzo Catena, Onorato Di Manno, Andrea Tanci

Year: 2019

Status: Finalist

Site: Tallinn, Estonia

Client: Tallinn Architecture Biennale

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