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Posts Tagged ‘SHELTER’

Cantilevered Cabin: Dizzying Alpine Shelter Hangs Off the Edge of a Cliff

28 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

cantilevered-cabin

Even someone brave enough to overcome fears of heights and climb a mountain may not have the stomach to spend the night in this suspended shelter on the edge of a vertigo-inducing abyss.

cabin-on-cliff

mountain-cabin-prefab-view

Designed by OFIS Arhitekti (images by Janez Martincic), this precariously-perched space sits on Slovenian-Italian border and boasts 360-degree views over the landscapes of both countries. Inside, a series of resting platforms and a few pieces of minimalist rustic decor are the extent of the amenities provided.

cabin-at-night

Despite its fragile appearance, the cabin was (of course) constructed to deal with the extreme conditions of the location’s altitude and weather exposure on Mount Kanin. Indeed, it took multiple attempts for a helicoptered construction crew to get the prefab structure in place and tether it to the surrounding stone.

sleeping-spaces-wood

cabin-interior

The cozy refuge from wind, snug and landslides (overnight guests may not want to know) is intended in part as a test of the materials, to see how they will stand up over time.

extreme-mountain-cabin

“The challenge is to install real objects remote sites … and study their response to extreme weather, radical temperature shifts, snow and rugged terrain” say the designers. “The harsh conditions of wind, snow, landslides, terrain, and weather require a response of specific architectural forms, structures and concept.” Despite those daunting challenges, the space is intended to “become a destination for hikers, climbers, cavers, mountaineers, nature lovers and romantics.”

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Water Bed: Tow an Amphibious Mobile Shelter Behind Your Bike

27 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Boutique & Art Hotels & Travel. ]

mobile water bed

Combining the cheap convenience of a hostel with the outdoor access of a tent, this wheeled micro-dwelling can be carted behind a bicycle then lowered into the water for a night of floating fun.

wheeled bike nomadic

bike bed trail

Created by Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate Daniel Durnin, the shelter features a watertight bottom, canvass walls and operable wood-framed fenestration for viewing and circulation.

water bed on wheels

water bed nomadic

The tent-on-the-water approach renders urban lakes, rivers and streams suddenly more accessible, creating alternative campgrounds that take up no space on land. It is designed with city’s like Durnin’s own (London) in mind, places where waterways are more prevalent than unused grounds.

water tent floating

bike bed in water

“I hope that the work will reawaken our connection with nature using the waterways as a catalyst and restore balance to the more networked living space that we now inhabit, not just in London but across the globe,” says Durnin.

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Typographic Shelter: Most Obvious City Bus Stop in the World

01 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

bus stop art baltimore

If you cannot spot this giant  bus shelter in Baltimore, you may have bigger problems than missing the bus and getting to work on time.

bus shelter spells design

bus city street stop

Standing 14 feet high, the signage-plus-bus-stop spells out B-U-S in big capital letters, providing spaces to sit (on all three characters) as well as overhead protection from the rain (in the B and S). Each letter is also seven feet wide.

bus stop urban shelter

Created by mmmm, “BUS is a place to enjoy, interact, and meet while waiting for the bus. It is a leisure space in the middle of the rhythm of the city, a fun place for the inevitable waiting at a bus stop. BUS is made with wood and steel, materials that are typically used to build urban furniture.”

bus stop letters shelter

The idea is to work with simple, conventional and durable materials to create something both functional but potentially iconic – a place that anyone will know when you mention it. Like other guerrilla bus stops and functional urban shelters, it certainly stands out, but also seems more straightforward and civic.

bus stop design concept

“The three letters of BUS are big enough to accommodate two to four people each and protect them from rain, sun, wind, and inclement weather. They allow people to assume different postures of sitting or standing while waiting for the bus. The S allows people to lie back while they wait, and the B provides shelter.”

bus stop typographic installation

From their website, this is “a permanent public art project supported by Creative Alliance and Southeast Community Development Corporation in conjunction with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and SPAIN arts & culture. It is part of the initiative TRANSIT, Creative Placemaking with Europe in Baltimore.”

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Brandalism: Replacing Bus Shelter Ads with Art in the UK

17 Jun

[ By Steph in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

Brandalism Main

Over three hundred bus shelter ads across the UK have been replaced with thought-provoking works criticizing capitalist culture by 40 street artists. The ‘Brandalism‘ posters were installed in high-traffic areas, from the busiest shopping district of London to the Leeds  Half Marathon route and even outside Scotland Yard, right under the noses of the police officers lambasted by several of the designs.

Brandalism Urban Intervention 1

Brandalism Urban Intervention 2

“The large print giveth, the small print taketh away,” reads one, while another parodies Harrod’s department store with “Horrids – trite gewgaws, trinkets & trash, the cluster bombs of consumerism.” “The market is dead, long live the market,” a third repeats.

Brandalism Urban Intervention 3

Brandalism Urban Intervention 4

The campaign is a response to the fact that the UK’s advertising industry pays just under 250 per person each year to reach the ears and eyeballs of the citizens i the hopes of selling things like “adjustable mops and leather sofas.” Plus, the industry relies on manipulation ranging from the subtle to the overt, convincing us that we won’t be happy until we make more money in order to purchase all of this stuff. It’s not about catering to our needs, it’s about creating new desires.

Brandalism Urban Interventions 7

Brandalism Urban Intervention 8

The campaign explains, “The fight against advertising is not a fight against desiring. We should want more from life not less, and we should demand it. The question is more of what? This exhibition is about trying to open up questions about the ills created by advertising, the false needs and destructive desires it attempts to distill in us, and it is about trying to reclaim some of the spaces taken from us.”

Brandalism Urban Intervention 9

Brandalism Urban Intervention 5

Brandalism even has a suggestion for anyone who isn’t a big fan of the work their artists produced: “Swapping them is easier than you’d imagine. All you need are some o the magic cabinet keys and a trusty hi-viz vest to remain hidden in plain sight. So if you don’t like what we’ve put up, check out our guide to opening the cabinets, and replace it with something you prefer. Because after all, they’re your streets.”

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Unbelievable Advert: Augmented Reality Bus Shelter Window

16 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]

pepsi viral marketing bus

Taking over a single bus shelter on New Oxford Street, guerrilla advertisers threw everything they could think of at commuters, including (but not limited to) flying space aliens, underground squid monsters and giant city-crushing robots.

pepsi augmented reality display

The campaign, created for Pepsi Max, takes a real-time projected display and adds (almost) impossible scenarios seamlessly to convince viewers of their authenticity.

pepsi marketing stunt lion

pepsi alien invasion overlay

pepsi guerilla marketing campaign

From its creators: “Watch their reactions as unbelievable scenarios unfold before their very eyes; from a giant robot crashing through the street to a passer by being abducted by flying saucers.” With over 5,000,000 views and counting, it is safe to say that Pepsi can clearly count this one as a success.

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Bike Tire Tent: Compact Travel Shelter Wraps Inside Wheels

29 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

tire bike travel tent

For the cycling nomad, this design uses space you never knew you had, and helps free up room in front-of-handlebar baskets or on above-back-tire racks for other uses in the process.

tire deployed camping closeup

Designed by Chung-Jung Wu, Pei-Chun Chen & Li-Fu Chen, a specially-reinforced tire creates a void into which a biker can clip their travel tent for extended rides.

tire shelter wheel design

The easy-to-access clasps make it simpler and speedier to deploy the tent when you reach your temporary destination, rather than unwrapping it from a pack or unstrapping it from a fender platform.

tire tent fully open

Of even greater value to long-distance travelers: precious cargo space on your back and elsewhere on your bicycle is freed up for clothes and other essential gear.

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Rough Sleeper: Mobile Backpack Shelter for Urban Homeless

25 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

homeless-animated

Amid the various conceptual designs for addressing large-scale homelessness, this working prototype stands out as refreshingly realistic, practical and applicable to the everyday needs of those sleeping on the streets: mobility, storage and shelter.

homeless shelter backpack design

homeless portable micro shelter

Ragnhild Lübbert Terpling, who studied both design and journalism, created the pack both for homeless populations and ordinary campers, the latter purchasers subsidizing the former group that is in greater need.

homeless shelter backpack

On its functionality: “the hybrid backpack expands into a fully retractable tent-like structure, providing extensive shelter for both those in need or for encampment purposes. Once compressed, the bag supplies enough space for storing essential living supplies; blankets, shoes, and other toiletries.”

homeless backpack contents open

Additional items, like spare shoes or a sleeping roll, can be lashed to the exterior of the pack, while more essential and personal possessions are tucked into compartments that are less easily accessed or removed for additional security.

homeless backpack extras lashed

homeless shelter tent deployed

While it by no means ‘solves’ the problem of homelessness, this product adds a layer of comfort and durability absent from typical de facto shelters like cardboard covers or sleeping bags. In short: it is more short-term patch than long-term problem solver, but at least it is a place to start.

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Details & Diagrams: $1,000 IKEA Flat-Pack Refugee Shelter

28 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

ikea shelter diagrams

Emergency shelters are designed to be short-term solutions, and many cannot withstand rain, wind and sun for more than six months. Yet the average stay in refugee camp is over twenty times that duration.

flat pack emergency shelter

The IKEA Foundation, in cooperation with the  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has developed a longer-term solution to this problem, turning their experience with flat-pack furniture and language-free instruction manuals toward disaster relief efforts in and around war-torn places like Syria (they are already testing in Lebanon and Iraq). Sticklers for detail should scroll carefully below for a step-by-step deconstruction of what goes into this remarkable dwelling.

flat pack shelter diagram

The problem, in part, is building the most universal unit possible in a world where emergencies happen globally, spanning regions both hot and cold and with vastly different cultural norms. Their solution is much like an ordinary IKEA product: flexible, adaptable, modular and packed into cardboard boxes of components. Naturally, they require no tools that are not included.

flat pack ikea shelter

While the structures themselves are still only expected to last a few years, they are made to be modified, enhanced and expanded in various ways. For instance, earthen walls and corrugated metal roofs can be pushed up against, fastened to and ultimately help reinforce the core buildings, or even eventually replace the need for underlying framework entirely, rendering it redundant.

ikea shelter finished

The shelters are constructed primarily from polymer panels that clip into a wire frame. On top sits an aluminum-mesh roofing sheet that is designed to reflect sunlight by day and retain heat by night. Solar energy charges a USB outlet for electrical needs. The target price range for mass production is under $ 1000, making it affordable in bulk to international organizations. Images and diagram via The Telegraph, IKEA Foundation and Graphic News.

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Walking Shelter: Sneakers Expand Into Human-Frame Tent

08 Aug

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

Walking Shelter Sneakers Tent 1

The next time you need a portable shelter, you could just pull it out of your sneakers and expand it into a tent using your own body as a frame. The Walking Shelter packs a lightweight nylon tent into two net pockets integrated into a pair of shoes. Pull it over yourself and you’ve got a rain-proof structure that will keep you dry and comfortable, as long as you don’t mind sitting up for extended periods.

Walking Shelter Sneakers Tent 2

Walking Shelter Sneakers Tent 4

Designed by SIBLING, a collective based in Melbourne, Sydney and Amsterdam, Walking Shelter can be customized by the user to adapt to a variety of contexts and environments. While it may not be the most practical tent for real-life use, it makes an interesting statement on the nature of human shelter in the modern urban world.

Walking Shelter Sneakers Tent 5

Walking Shelter Sneakers Tent 7

The design calls to mind other shelters, made for both practical applications and as statement-making thought pieces, that could make life more comfortable for the homeless. Could such a simple design help address a chronic global problem, in a small way?

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Origami Shelter: Instant Flat-Pack Architecture on Demand

19 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

origamic architecture

Take a structure, strip away all of the non-essentials, and squeeze out every last unused bit of air space, and what do you get? Something a lot like a folded sheet of paper.

origami inspired instant architecture

This folding shelter designed by Doowon Suh is as elementary as it gets – a series of sheets that unfold like origami to form a robust but basic building.

origami example

Like nesting paper cranes, in its most compact form, each module can be stacked on its siblings, making it easy to pack and ship in containers or store until deployed.

origami flat pack buildings

The modules are bare bones for maximum adaptive capability – they can emergency homes or hospital pods, temporary stores or community rooms.

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