Hasta La Ideas

I’m not crazy about this structure, but the other design blogs love it. Bjarke Ingels Group has designed this Softshell structure for Nokken, a company that manufactures habitats for the hospitality industry. The Softshell has a timber structure and a tent-like canvas skin. Inside is a bed and a woodburning stove, and above is a netted surface.

What I dislike about it is that these are meant to be sited out in nature, yet make no effort to work with it nor blend into the landscape. Whereas traditional soft-sided structures like yurts and tipis have circular footprints, the better to handle wind, the form of the Softshell is an aggressively modernist statement meant to symbolize human dominance of the environment. While that concept is not foreign—houses obviously do that—I guess I’m not used to seeing it in an environment that would ostensibly draw the nature lover.

Then again, this targets the glamping market, which is not about enjoying nature. It is about being as comfortable as possible, and enjoying “luxury,” by subverting nature to your will.

I would also like to hear what these things sound like when the wind picks up.