Wall House: The Layered Look
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07.11.07
A wall is a "complex membrane" that is a firm divider between inside and outside. It is traditionally either solid or window with little gradation between. The Wall House delaminates the wall into four layers, (concrete cave, stacked shelving, milky shell, soft skin.) This is interesting because a traditional wall buries systems that age differently but all the layers are bound together; here the layers are separated and accessible.
According to Chilean architects FAR frohn&rojas : "From the inside out the layers build upon one another, both materially and geometrically, blurring the boundary between the interior and the exterior and creating, through the specificity of the different materials used (many of which are not common in architectural applications), a series of qualitatively distinct environments."
"The building’s most standout feature, an energy screen typically used in greenhouse construction, constitutes the outermost layer, creating not only a diffused lighting and comfortably climatized zone inside but also, through its folding and sometimes reflective/sometimes-translucent surface, contributes to the diamond-cut appearance of the structure." ::Dezeen via Linton at ::Hugg
My idea is just the opposite, a hard outer shell with a soft inner living structure. The outer shell takes the brunt of the weather allowing a flimsy or even whimsical structure to be built underneath it. It could be a tent, cardboard house, bamboo house, etc.
My first reaction: holy $hit, this is a great idea. As a backpacker I don't know why I never thought of this - combine home and tent, get great lighting, easy expandability/modification, lower impact, etc.
But then several things hit me: no security. A pocketknife would let anyone in. This would never work in city/suburban environments, and would be iffy in country environments since it would lure people to the country for easy targets. Insurance companies would refuse to insure your stuff against theft. Something else to consider is reduced protection from falling branches and trees. You would be fine inside the "cave", but you won't always be in there. Finally, you eliminate the ability to control the interior environment - imagine trying to heat this in New England. They say in the source article that the interior is controlled, but I can only see this in places where it is mostly comfortable outside already (like Chile where this house is located).
Sorry, but you've got it all wrong, Doug.
http://materialicio.us/2007/07/07/wall-house-by-frohn-rojas/
It's a whole solid HOUSE with a tent screen over it.
A big dog would keep strangers away.
Also, electronic surveillance with lights, sirens, and cameras.
Also, a hard room to store valuables.
Or, how about not having anything that is valuable?
Most of the population of the US now lives where hot weather is the main climate problem not cold weather.
Shelter from the sun is the most important thing.
Interesting. There's been a lot of controversy in my office as to how we deal with vapor building up in our building's walls. Maybe the solution is to pull the layers of the wall apart from each other.
yes justin, but that does'nt change the fact that it sucks.
i don't care how functional it may be, the maintenance on that soft shell alone will be a major source of headaches. even if there is a full and secure house under there it isn't gonna stop thieves or dumb kids from trying to break in by slashing it anyway.
it may look kinda cool but thats about all it does... pretty waste of money.
I agree with nate, I could see the tent getting dirty and funky smelling after a few showers. Dose it feel weird to be so open to the outside?