1. Walking out into the plain
We wish to address issues of transience and temporality. In a time when immigrants, businessmen or tourists continuously move across a global expanse, we would like to investigate the possibility for a shelter, an interior. It is a temporary structure which should not be built to last.
It arrives without foundations: a structure that takes from the site nothing but stories, and leaves behind only memories.

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2. Raising a shelter
The project required both research and development into the lightest of possible structures, which could be brought to site in several backpacks. It was developed in our workshop, over a period of a year, using a series of prototypes and loading tests, accompanied by parametric modelling and digital structural analysis. The materials used seem simple, but are in fact based on advanced technologies. The emphasis here is not on vernacular form, but rather simplicity of assembly.
Similarly to the fable of the Reed and the Oak, the structure’s resilience lies in its ability to sway.

 

Raising a shelter  _  Argo's Shadow  _
Aluminium poles (7075 T9) are assembled into two horseshoe-shaped arcs, crossed and doubled for load bearing purposes, and braced with internal and external supports. A module is defined, each weighing 7 kg. The way in which the building and it's inhabitants engage with the land is integral to the notion of a temporary shelter. The ground holds everything, although we are only slightly touching it. The structure is held in place with weights filled with material from the site, which also double as seats for resting. Where sand is used, it can be watered to increase its density and weight, providing extra stability in case of a storm. 
The shelter is formulated between weight and weightlessness. Between technologies of exploration and technologies of agriculture. Between moving and staying. 

 

Raising a shelter  _  A cover  _
Locally sourced agricultural light diffusion nets (filtration of 30-60%) are layered above and below the structure, to form a cover.  The space transforms throughout it's life cycle, throughout the changing daylight and seasons, constantly engaging with its visitors. 
Like the Ship of Theseus, it pledges for gradual recycling, reassembly and re-emergence.
Raising a shelter  _  Better basics  _  marks  _
Button knots fasten the arcs at their intersections, as flexible universal joints, while webbing straps hold the ends of the arcs in tension on the ground. 
Like a Semperian enclosure, the nets are hand sewn to the structure with the string of an agricultural cutting rotor.
They are the woven ornamental marks of the craftwomen and men.

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3. Gathering
When positioned and compositioned on site, the generic module becomes contextual. The context as a three-dimensional physicality, and as a situation. It becomes a place for a multitude of events: hosting, gathering, solitude and contemplation. It invites movement and transit out into a suite of interior and exterior spaces. The composition of modules offers new environments on site - multiple situations, episodes, atmospheres to be explored, inside or outside. It is a safe place for rest. It forms a vestibule, a series of rooms, a court within a court, an exit.

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4. Walking out into the plain  _  hosting  _
The structure stands as station, an episode in a visitor’s day. 
It is not merely a point of arrival or place for rest, but part of an ongoing journey to be continued. 

Architecture, therefore, could also be about leaving.

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construction: s--r, liat muller, eyal zur, Eli Sahar, Asaf Etzion, Kedar Sails  _  roof photo: Dan Perez.