Academia
Pioneering Modes of Inhabitation in the Extreme
AA School of Architecture, London, 2019
Focusing on the Heroic Era huts built at the beginning of the 20th century by Roald Amundsen (whose primate was to reach the geographic South Pole first) and by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the programme aims to question two fundamental hypothesis put forth by the Antarctica 200 team:
Could we theorize that in extreme conditions such as those found in the Southernmost continent of planet Earth there is a unique form of “interior urbanism”?
Could we state that in the same inhospitable environment (which has record temperatures of -80°C and maximum wind velocities of 327km/h) clothing should be intended as the first architectural envelope?
To attempt an answer, two symbolic structures erected during the imperialist quest of Antarctica will be analyzed in depth. Their metamorphosis mirrors the relentless challenges faced by their inhabitants, who developed symptoms of polar depression due to the winter-long confinement in a hyper-dense interior. A detailed analysis of original expedition diaries and archival photographs will enable us to unveil and reconstruct – by means of drawings – the neglected evolution of these embryonic examples of Antarctic architecture, and to launch a much-needed conversation on past and future prototypes for inhabitation in the extreme.
Could we theorize that in extreme conditions such as those found in the Southernmost continent of planet Earth there is a unique form of “interior urbanism”?
Could we state that in the same inhospitable environment (which has record temperatures of -80°C and maximum wind velocities of 327km/h) clothing should be intended as the first architectural envelope?
To attempt an answer, two symbolic structures erected during the imperialist quest of Antarctica will be analyzed in depth. Their metamorphosis mirrors the relentless challenges faced by their inhabitants, who developed symptoms of polar depression due to the winter-long confinement in a hyper-dense interior. A detailed analysis of original expedition diaries and archival photographs will enable us to unveil and reconstruct – by means of drawings – the neglected evolution of these embryonic examples of Antarctic architecture, and to launch a much-needed conversation on past and future prototypes for inhabitation in the extreme.
| Project Title: | Pioneering Modes of Inhabitation in the Extreme |
| Location: | Architectural Association School of Architecture |
| Year: | 2019 |
| Status: | Completed |
| Programme: | Workshop |
| Organizer: | UNLESS, The Polar Lab |
| Directors: | Giulia Foscari and Francesco Bandarin |
| Speakers: | Geoff Cooper (United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust), Bryan Lintott (Scott Polar Research Institute), Maria Shéhérazade Giudici (Architectural Association School of Architecture) |
| Tutors: | Jean de Pomereu, Federica Zambeletti (UNLESS) |
| Students: | Callum Campbell, Ryan Darius, Noah Gotlieb, Othmane Kandri and Sabrina Syed. |
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