Stargazing

Here

Somewhere

CONCEPT - HERE SOMEWHERE

The structure balances on the edge between “here” and

“somewhere”.

The idea of a journey that starts “here” close to the ground,

continues through the building, and has its end “somewhere”

closer to the stars.

This building is not only for stargazing, but it is also a place to

meet friends and family, learn, dream and give shelter from the

changing weather in Rindal.

THE FOUR BOXES

The project has four boxes with four different functions. There

is one box open towards the ground where kids can play and

enter the building in a more challenging way. The next box has

a fireplace, and it is open towards the forest. One box has a

roof and gives shelter from the rain and the sun. This box also

has a ladder taking you up to the second floor where there is

a platform for stargazing and where you can access the fourth

box. The last box is open to the sky, has high walls and a net

where you can lay down and look up at the stars. Due to the net,

snow will not accumulate, so it is possible to lay down all year

round.

SIGHTLINES

As mentioned above, the four boxes have different identities

and functions, but also different focus on the surroundings.

The playground box is related to the ground; the fireplace box

is open towards the trees on the north side; the shelter box is

open towards the east and south creating the main entrance;

and the stargazing box is focused upwards to the sky.

STRUCTURE

The main structure is a counterbalance system and works

with trusses, columns and beams. It has two large cantilever

trusses, which hold the boxes together. The boxes are divided

in a grid of 3300mm c/c in three directions (x,y,z). Only one of

the boxes touch the ground, and it rests on its four corners. It is

anchored to the ground by two steel rods in two corners, and it

rests on the concrete slabs in the other two.

Most of the construction takes compression, unless when it

takes tension from the box that hangs of the structure. By

running the model through a structure calculation program,

we found that the original dimensions of the wood had to be

increased. The grid and all the constructive elements stayed the

same but the large beams became 160x200mm, the columns

and diagonals 160x160mm and the columns taking the tension

from the hanging box increased to 240x160mm.

Main Concept and circulation

The four boxes have different programs

Axial forces

The four boxes foucus on different views

Moment

Model 1:20 structure