The Fortified Cavern / Clara Copiglia + Benjamin Lagarde + Tim Cousin


Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin
  • Participants Of The Construction Workshop: Camille Copiglia, Caroline de Pesters, Catherine Cousin, Fred Jensen, Morgane Hofstetter, Maxence Grangeot, Samuel Jaccard, Sebastian Jensen, Tristan Pheulpin, Eytan Levi, Arthur Rosaz, Emile Feyeux, Florian Dragani, William Rolland

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Text description provided by the architects. The hut is a familiar place built to protect oneself from an inhospitable nature. The topoanalysis of the childhood hut reveals its two essential qualities: domesticity and fortification. This contrast of conditions is at the essence of our design. Pushed to the extreme it gives birth to a place with the intimacy of a boudoir and the protection of a fort. Our pavilion takes place inside the walls of an old military fort atop a hill overlooking the valley of Albertville.


Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Floor Plan

Floor Plan

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

The place first appears to visitors as a mysterious black monolith floating above the vegetation. As the observer gets closer, a pattern reveals itself on the darkly burnt wood textures of the facades. It is the expression of the prefabricated boxes layout that constitutes the pavilion. The boxes are all of the varying dimensions. Their unequal depth is expressed in the interior of the hut, shaping a complex topological space inside the primitive volume.


Axonometry

Axonometry

When visitors enter the hut after climbing the ladder and pulling the heavy door, they discover a wood cavern, an archaic space that opens to the landscape and offers a comforting and introspective troglodyte hermitage. The occupants of the cavern can examine the close surroundings through narrow windows in the thickness of the walls, allowing them to see without being seen and thus comforting their privileged position.


Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin

Courtesy of Clara Copiglia, Benjamin Lagarde, Tim Cousin