Pinwheel Shelter / Studio EX

EX. - a design workshop founded by Andrea Cassi and Michele Versaci, also authors of the Black Body Mountain Shelter - has designed a new mountain bivouac in the western Alps, located at an altitude of 2.850 meters above sea level. The shelter, built in memory of Stefano Berrone, is a folded wooden and aluminum shell situated on a remote scree slope in the Valley of Seguret Mount, in the north-western Italian Alps. This discreet intervention in the alpine landscape takes the form of a rigid tent with a faced shape. It has been designed following the analysis of sun exposure and wind directions, fostering a continuous dialogue between the architecture, the valley morphology, and its atmospheric agents. The architecture primarily provides shelter and protection for alpinists, and at the same time helps to explore the relationship between an artificial structure and its natural environment. This investigation delves into the project's long-term impact on the natural context and its interaction with the surrounding environmental conditions.