Description of the project by ootro estudio
Helix has been imagined for rest and contemplation. The project was born as an independent initiative with the aim to establish a relationship of respect between the individual and the landscape. A micro-architecture that is implanted non aggressively in the natural surroundings and arbitrates between the two sides, the observer and the observed. A nomadic shelter that explores new ways of constructing a more ephemeral and transient habitat.
This prototype is also a chapter in the experimental exercise that we develop as a study, in which we investigate the relationship between architecture and its means of production and, more specifically, the self-production of architecture in all its stages, from design to fabrication. In this line, we like to work with an operable size by a single person, allowing us to explore the possibilities of human-architecture binomial as an autonomous machine. We also consider it preferable to work with raw materials that are the byproduct of other industrial or comercial processes, as is the one used in this project: a cardboard used for separating on storage pallets.
Helix can be transported and assembled by one person, attributes that give it the character of "snail shell" in which you can configure a single space. The shell is formed by pyramids of cardboard with holes in their corners that allow a partial view from the inside, an opportunity to look at the small details of the environment and nature.
In its design, it has taken into account that the pieces do not exceed the maximum size to be easily manageable by one person. Each pyramid is marked with a number and, in turn, each of the flaps is marked with the number of the next pyramid, so you do not need an assembly plan to assemble all the shelter because all the pieces are referenced to each other.
The joining system between pyramids is solved with the fold of the cardboard flaps, avoiding the use of an accessory material. In the fabrication of the parts, it has been used low-power CNC laser cutting technology, seeking to minimize the environmental footprint of the project. As in most projects we develop, the machinery that has participated in the creation of Helix is open source hardware.
The prototype was assembled and tested in Sierra de Orihuela in April 2016, a mountainous spot surronded by the characteristic landscape of orchards in southern province of Alicante (Spain).
