CALIGO
CALIGO

POPUP HOTEL

LANDSCAPE, GRIDS AND PEOPLE

 

Year: 2016
Location: Murro di Porco, Italy
Client: Public Administration
Size: 50000 sqm
Typology-tag: Landscape, urban planning
Phase: Competition
Design Team:
Margherita Del Grosso
Andrea Silvestri


PopUp Hotel attempts to create a new dialogue in between the nature and the sea: a landscape machine inhabited by people and nature that reacts to different conditions. From a landscape to an inhabited infrastructure system within 3 actions: Link, Insert and Inhabit.


LINK
The Lighthouse: a sign in between land and sea
The Lighthouse represents one of the most interesting physical sign on the sea cost. Its meaning integrates multiple aspects, in particular the symbol that links the sea to the land: from security to connection with other worlds.
For its nature, the lighthouse is a non – oriented building. At the same time, the Lighthouse Murro di Porco is located in one of the most fascinating point of Sicily Island: the 3 main extremity of the mythological triangle of Sicily, Capo delle Correnti – Capo Boero – Capo Peloro, are converging in the center of the Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse is no longer a sign between land and sea, but it establishes a new relationship between Murro di Porco and the historical topographical characters of Sicily Island.
Capo Boero axe defines the access from the land of Sicily to the Lighthouse. From the Lighthouse, Capo Peloro and Capo delle Correnti axis define two viewpoints from where to access the water. Murro di Porco Lighthouse and topography suggest one more central axe that evoques the connection with the worlds on the other side of the sea.


INSERT
The nature: an equilibrate system
Cliff, for its matter, is definable as a hard expression of nature as vegetation is definable as a soft expression of it. Cliff and vegetation are in a perfect equilibrate system; they compensate each other, they transform one in the other. Emerging from the sea, the cliff meets the vegetation and the vegetation merges in the cliff until it slowly disappears along the cost.
What happens when we insert a new artificial system? How to insert an artificial system? Starting from nature.

As hard and soft matter find an equilibrate system in nature, PopUp Hotel attempts to establish a new equilibrium proposing a system where hard becomes the artificial implementation and soft the nature. As in nature, the soft merges with the hard crossing his boundaries and generating a continuous variation. A 4x4x4 tridimensional infrastructure is superimposed on the actual condition and it reacts loosing its hard character and sharp boundaries.
Nature and implementation merge together generating a new dispositive that incorporates the Lighthouse buildings and axis. Cliff and vegetation are interfering with the artificial system until they break its rules.
The tridimensional infrastructure follows the cliff topography: it adapts to the vertical condition, it appears and disappears until it fell on the seawater. The nature takes over the artificial in multiple situations as when the level curves request to the implementation a further reaction generating a second system of natural trails around the cliff.
The infrastructure transforms itself adapting to needs and conditions, loosing its elements until only the verticals are still presents as a landmark sign or a wind pole energy producer.

 

INHABIT
A system for humans and nature

PopUp Hotel is a system for humans and nature. As the nature makes the system reacting to it, humans do to. The 4x4x4 infrastructure is a base for human inhabitation: from tridimensional landscape landmark when not inhabited to a machine where to plug elements when inhabited.

The PopUp Hotel interprets a Hotel as a live organism. The hotel of 2016 is no longer a building made by rooms alive only when guests are there (free-full modality).
The removable application of elements (walls – roof – canopy) opens to new possible scenarios and program visions. Rooms for 2 or 4 or 6 people can be easily composed following the guest needs. When the guests are no present, the implementation becomes a public landscape space where only the essential structure is still present.

As a live organism, PopUp Hotel adapts to needs and conditions of its guests following contraction and de-contraction during the year. While a fix program is proposed, the system allows for new possible program insertion satisfying different needs.

PopUp Hotel develops along the Lighthouse, as the extension of existing buildings and it creates a central heart where the main hall and activities are placed, while the individual rooms are located along the natural paths close to the sea.
The lighthouse becomes the main reception hall from where the top terrace is accessible by a connection with the café and restaurants facilities located on the new implementation. The side existing buildings are dedicated to wellness areas with small outside swimming pools.
From the Lighthouse, the 4x4x4 infrastructure grows towards the sea cost and generates new spatial public conditions adaptable to open forum and exhibitions areas. By following the cliff topography, PopUp Hotel develops a vertical and horizontal circulation system that generates connection in between terraces and offers multiple new points of view.
Along the sea cost and the natural paths, the dispositive transforms again in new public sun terraces and swimming pools until the system fell in the sea creating extra platforms floating on the water.

PopUp Hotel dispositive works as a “balloon frame” where multiple modules can be plugged in to create new space conditions adapting to program needs like rooms, camping areas or landscape public areas.
When the machine works as a room, the panels are located around a fix service module. The modules are differentiated for their matter in solid, transparent and perforated allowing different functions (walls - inside pavement – outside pavement - canopy) and program composition (rooms – living rooms– arcades – path). The system provides also solar module, water collection module and wind pole performing as a self-sufficient kit.


Conclusion

PopUp Hotel attempts to express a new interpretation of the meaning of the Hotel in a form of a live organism capable to adapt and react to human presence as to nature presence creating a new equilibrate system in between them.