Doko Hut (2015)

International Competition "Himalayan Mountain Hut", promoted by HMMD. Project designers: Simone Calò, Paola D'Alfonso, Stefano Foà, Giada Lanciano.

Rome, Italy

Project mentioned in the article "Sustainable mountain huts", authors Paola D'Alfonso and Simone Calò, on Ponte (review of DEI, Civil Engineering Office typography), n° 3/2015 (http://tinyurl.com/pontemountain)

The international competition Himalayan Mountain Hut took place from December 2014 to April 2015, organized by HMMD (now called Bee Breeders), an international group of professionals in the construction industry, which organizes architecture competitions characterized by a research cut and very advanced experimentation. The competition asked to design a prototype of refuge to be built along the Himalayan trekking routes at very high altitudes. The proposed shelter type should have been implanted at 4,280 m above sea level (Paldor Base Camp, Dhading district, central Nepal in the north-west of Kathmandu) and would have to accommodate 10 to 20 people including tourists and staff members. Given the extreme context the shelter is designed so that it can be installed as quickly as possible, considering the lack of roads and infrastructure networks and the particularly difficult weather conditions. The shape of the shelter resembles a traditional object used by the inhabitants of the region, the doko, a basket for carrying on the shoulder that the Himalayan populations use along mountain trails. Placed upside down on the ground the doko resembles a conical hut, primitive condition of living that means nomadism, warm and familiar but precarious and provisional shelter all over the world. For these reasons, the shelter we designed wants to communicate familiarity, community, cultural recognition, but also an idea of temporary nature and ephemeral. The shelter must be dismantled and taken away without leaving fingerprints or permanent marks on the territory since the coexistence with the tourism should not go to the detriment of landscape and natural environment. The refuge also incorporates the concept of stupa, sacred cosmogonic structure that represents the microcosm. Even in our shelter the interior space is organized around a sort of hollow "cosmic pillar" in which the staircase connecting the different levels is located.

Read more here: http://divisare.com/projects/308083-giada-lanciano-stefano-foa-paola-d-alfonso-simone-calo-doko-hut