Our research assignment for this project was the readymade structure, which we used as  a starting point to design and produce our own “instant shelter” for Cal Poly’s Design Village competition. Among the parameters of the competition included the banned use of unaltered pre-manufactured structures, so in the style of the artist Kevin Cyr we sought to use modified elements of readymade store-bought structures into our design. Dismembering the components of two pop-up canopies, one black and one white, we used the legs and pitches to create a larger footprint which could separate into different rooms and exhibit a striped elevation pattern. We outfitted the tents with domestic furniture and detailing, down to silverware and slippers, to make our shelter more comfortable to live in. The black and white striping, which we applied on every object in the shelter, including our clothes, serves as a type of blank screen for the user to project their own image of domesticity onto. With these components, we made a structure which can be erected in 15 min and serve as a comfortable home to anyone in need of instant shelter.

 

 

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has been hosting the Design Village competition since the 60’s as a way to provide undergraduate architecture students a hands-on experience in designing, constructing and employing a habitable “shelter.” Competitors, which include teams from architecture schools all along the West Coast, design and build shelters in which they inhabit throughout the entirety of the weekend. Part of the competition includes a mile-long hike to the competition site, which rests on the side of a hill in Cal Poly Canyon. The shelter and all equipment must be moved by the competitors from the starting gate to the site. This year, 2017, marked the competition’s worst weather yet. Heavy rain on the first night led the organizers to change the rules this year – for the first time – extending the deadline for final setup to 10 am the following morning and waiving the requirement that teams had to sleep in their structures the first night. Despite the pouring rain, heavy win and muddy conditions, we managed to assemble our structure and display our complete design on the second day of the competition. 

​

Project statement written by Jacob Garcon

​

Finished with "Most Habitable" Award