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Casa Ojala Highly Flexible House by Beatrice Bonzanigo |
Home > Winners > Design #79512 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
BB: I’ve been traveling frequently to South America in the past years, as I felt I needed some fresh inspiration by in nite lands and a younger approach to contemporary architecture. Italian bureaucracy sometimes is too much for an architect. Visiting Argentinian, Chilean, and Uruguayan beautiful and still very untouched lands, I found out that hospitality for travelers is very limited and localized. It was a pity to go back to centralized structures – even if in beautiful hotels – after a day on horseback or by jeep, full of dust and savage nature. It was a pity not being able to experience those wonders more, few days in a row, day and night, to really get in contact with the unlimited inspiration that those in nite spaces and sky can give.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
BB: Sometimes I want to look at the Andes having an hot bath; sometimes I would love to be surrounded by traditional and perfumed textiles while I looked at the stars next to a replace and nothing else; sometimes I want to share all this with one or two friends; sometimes I need a wardrobe even if I’m the middle of a desert; sometimes the wind bothers me while I'm reading next to the ocean; sometimes I want to be touched by the wind fancing a swing under some wooden shades; sometimes I want to experience from my bed 360° of planet earth with no boundaries in between. And in the meantime, I love to feel good comfort, safe, at home. What about a new architecture that could speak about those feelings and that could fully transmit the feeling of utter freedom that these endless lands convey? the outdoor about? How to truly inhabiting nature without infringing it, and yet without renouncing the rest and pampering one may end in a hotel? What architectural structure could I make disappear on request? How could I satisfy the thirsty eye without constraining its views in an artificial frame? What could be self-sufficient enough to function in isolated spots? How to make its host part of nature and safe at home in the meantime? What is that travelers are really looking for? So, I started thinking about a very flexible little house. Then the idea of a small space with literally in nite possibilities came about.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
BB: I am planning to start its production.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
BB: A lot of thinking, and one day of drawing.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
BB: I received important inspiration by three special friends in Argentina.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
BB: I am studying different options, I am open to lease the production rights as well as produce it by myself with some consultant and partners.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
BB: see answer 01.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
BB: An Argentinian designer friend, Gustavo Ressio, and teh all team of our firm IB Studio.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
BB: Casa Ojala is suitable for different types of inhabitants: families, couples, athletes, travellers, star hunters, artists, philosophers and people looking for new luxury types, people bored by everyday life, curious people, researchers, lovers of the sea, the mountains, lakes and deserts. Casa Ojala is for anybody to enjoy. In my mind it was first developed as a by-product for luxury hotels seeking new solutions for a travel experience and a different life, avoiding construction sites. Casa Ojala can also be offered to private customers with land of any type, vineyards, open countryside, mountains, lagoons, woods, meadows, sand dunes, infinite or uncultivated land.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
BB: Demand for minimal and environmentally friendly solutions has considerably grown worldwide in recent years. Today’s market offers a large variety of small architectural solutions for individuals looking for something different to share. Casa Ojala offers something more: its extensive flexibility contained in a very small space, perceived as infinite and alive, is the key that is still missing in the global market.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
BB: “Ojalá” (o-ha-lá, from ancient Spanish oxalá, Arabic وَشَاءَ اللّٰه, wašāʾa llāh) is a word that summarizes the concept of infinite possibilities, hopes related to emptiness and absence, intuition, a key of a door not yet open, a new field of existence, a telescope that brings together and moves horizons, a space of different possibilities and, therefore, a wish that comes true.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
BB: autocad, revit and photoshop.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
BB: Casa Ojala is one thing with its guest. The surprise and the simplicity with which it changes, create a unique experience of a new and palpable life, a new discovery in the world of static architecture. The limited space converts into an infinite home. It is small, it can be disassembled, transported and is not bulky. The architectural limits of forced views, filtered light, controlled air and untouchable canopy are broken, but all the comforts and functions of a home are guaranteed. The home becomes a surprise, a game, a circus, a theatre, fragrances and gestures. The landscape is its façade. Casa Ojala is a sustainable, minimal, compact and flexible product for a new comfort, away from TV or air conditioning. The boundary between inner and outer space no longer exists. Outdoor is a substantial, fundamental and precious part of it.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
BB: I collaborated with architects inside my firm IB Studio.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
BB: Casa Ojala develops from a manual mechanical system composed of ropes, pulleys and cranks, like sailing boats'. Also, for the sliding wooden walls, which are rolled up on posts placed at the edge of the circumference and in the center of the structure Wood-Skin Mesh Sheets were chosen with a vertical striped pattern. Mesh Sheets offer a new way to design curved, wavy, and free-form surfaces from flat sheets. This game-changing technology unlocks the design potential of rigid surfaces, allowing the construction of elegant membranes with the same look, feel, and functional properties as lighter, more flexible materials like paper or fabric
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
BB: no, it has not being influenced by analytical research.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
BB: Developing the manual mechanical system is not easy. I need to collaborate with engineers for the detailed design phase.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
BB: I felt that this project needed attention, as I believe it is a good product that needs any kind of help to be brought to reality.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
BB: I learnt that it is always good to follow your heart. And I also know that I will learn a lot during Casa Ojala's production phase.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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