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Danish architects BIG seem to have a thing for skiing on rooftops and have designed some more buildings that double up as ski slopes, this time for a resort in Lapland.

Visitors to the Koutalaki Ski Village in Levi will be able take an elevator up to the rooftops of the four accommodation blocks and ski back down.

The competition-winning buildings will surround and shelter a public square that can be used for ice skating and music performances.

Cafes and bars will occupy the lower floors of the buildings, while the top floor of one block will offer panoramic views of the surrounding snow-covered landscape.

You can also read about BIG’s earlier proposals for a combined power plant and ski slope here, or see more stories about skating, skiing and sledging in our recent feature.

Here’s some more information from BIG:

BIG Unveils A Ski Resort In Lapland

BIG wins an invited competition for a 47.000 m2 ski resort and recreational area in Levi.

The future Ski Village will transform the existing Levi ski resort into a world class destination, offering top quality accommodation and leisure services for skiers of all levels and demands. The proximity to the Kittilä airport ensures easy access to the resort attracting international visitors to Levi village and the whole Lapland region.

The Finland-based developer Kassiopeia Finland Oy is investing in its local region as it currently owns and operates Hotel Levi Panorama, Levi Summit Congress Center and Hotel K5 Levi and above and beyond has interests in developing the exquisite Koutalaki area.

“BIG’s visionary approach of combining unique types of accommodation and amenities along with the leisure activities offered at the resort, left the jury in awe.

BIG’s ambitious plan challenges traditional thinking and we believe that the collaboration between Kassiopeia Finland and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group will rise to the occasion.” Jury, Kassiopeia Finland Oy.

Located on a gentle slope, the existing Levi ski center provides the framework for the future Koutalaki Ski Village which is conceived as an extension of the summit and the existing cluster of buildings in Koutalaki.

BIG proposes to create a series of buildings that radiate out from a central square and whose ends touch the ground to create four freestanding buildings that each provide access to the roof and allow the skiers to descend from the resort’s rooftop downhill in any direction.

The soft curves of the undulating roofs of the four buildings create a visual continuity of the natural land­scape while lending the whole village the unique character of a skislope skyline that creates an inhabited mountain top.

“The Koutalaki Ski Village is conceived as an extension of both the summit and the resort. Grown from the natural topography rather than dropped from the sky – the ar­chitecture extends the organic forms of natural landscape creating an inhabitable as well as skiable manmade mountain.

As a result, our design for the Koutalaki Ski Village creates a new hybrid integrating distinct identities such as village and resort, shelter and openness, cozy intimacy and natural maj­esty, unique character and careful continuity – or simply – architecture and landscape.” Bjarke Ingels, Founder & Partner, BIG.

The four build­ings arc around a central square to create a new bustling village plaza at the heart of the resort, which is sheltered from the wind yet open and inviting to the surrounding landscape.

The plaza allows ice skating and music events and is connected to a bowl like yard with cafés and bars created by the lower interior heights of the new buildings. The intimate atmosphere of the spaces created here contrasts the open views from the summit.

The whole resort area is connected through a network of paths that prioritizes skiers and pedestrians. Access to the roofs happens through central elevator cores allowing skiing down either towards the courtyard or the piste. An elevator located centrally in the hotel provides access to the roof top restaurant with a 360 degree panorama views of the landscape and plaza.

”When first visiting the future Koutalaki village site you realize the proximity to the ski slopes but at the same time the importance of creating a connection for skiers as well. The gentle slope away from the main ski system seems to offer the solution for a unified proposal that creates maximum connectivity for skiers and pedestrians.” Jakob Lange, Partner-in-Charge, BIG.

All accommodation units offered at the new resort enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding nature, including the eight private villas which are situated at different elevations to provide an undisturbed panorama, while the elevated private gardens serve as an extension of the landscape. The villas embrace the snowy landscape and allow the snow in all its forms become a part of the architecture itself.

“Instead of creating design solutions that aim at dealing with snow by shoveling or moving it, we want to create a village that utilizes the full potential of snow. When it is caught on the façade the window frames become a living part of the landscape, adapting to changes in the weather. The light granite façade enhances the intimate relation with the nature.” Hanna Johansson, Project Leader, BIG.

While the four buildings simulate real ski slopes during winter time, combining the essence of a ski resort – skiing, relaxation, rec­reation and dwelling, the roofscape of the buildings during summer will be just as attractive serving as a green continuum of the surrounding natural landscape for hiking and pic­nics.

Name: Koutalaki Ski Village
Size: 47.000m2
Client: Kassiopeia Finland Oy
Location: Levi, Finland

Partners in Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Jakob Lange
Project Leader: Hanna Johansson
Team: David Tao, Erik de Haan, Jeff Mikolajewski, Jesper Victor Henriksson, Lucian Racovitan, Maren Allen

Climbers in the Alps can now spend their nights sleeping in a tube that cantilevers over the edge of a mountain.

Top: photograph by Francesco Mattuzzi

Named New Refuge Gervasutti, the survival unit was designed by Italian architects LEAPfactory, who specialise in modular accommodation for extreme environments.

The tube was prefabricated off-site and airlifted to the site by helicopters.

Above: photograph by Marco Destefanis

A red pattern decorates the structure’s exterior to make it visible to climbers and mountaineers, who will often be approaching from a distance.

Above: photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

Bunk beds and storage closets occupy the back of the pod, whilst a living room with integrated kitchen and dining table are located inside the cantilever.

Above: photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

A large window gives guests a wide view of the landscape outside and an integrated computer provides detailed information about the weather and climate.

Another survival bunker we’ve featured protects its inhabitants from attack rather than the weather – see that mobile, indestructible dwelling here.

Photography is by Gughi Fassino, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: Photograph by Marco Destefanis

Here’s a more detailed explanation from LEAPfactory:

“New Refuge Gervasutti” by LEAPfactory

This, the first alpine refuge of the latest generation, it provides the optimal combination of comfort, safety and respect for the environment. It was installed in mid October 2011 in Courmayeur (IT) on the Freboudze glacier, in front of the spectacular East face of the Grandes Jorasses of the Mont Blanc Range. It is now ready for use by mountaineers and climbers.

The Gervasutti refuge was commissioned by CAI Torino, the Italian Alpine Club. Under the guidance of SUCAI the subsection of CAI Torino and the Ski Mountaineering School, the project was realised thanks to the works team coordinated by the LEAPfactory project managers Luca Gentilcore and Stefano Testa.

Above: Photograph by Michelangelo Filippi

The refuge represents the pinnacle of achievement of LEAPfactory, (the acronym means Living, Ecological, Alpine Pod) an Italian Company that designs, creates and produces modular structures which have minimal impact on the environment.

The realisation of the refuge is a great achievement, in that the materials used are of a high standard and use sophisticated technology capable of handling the problems of extreme temperatures and the difficulties of installation, given the altitude and the position in the midst of a glacier.

Each module is entirely prefabricated, from the outer protective shell to the interior fittings. All the modules were transported by helicopter thanks to their light weight and assembled on site in just a few hours.

The modules’ particular design means that they can be planned and constructed based on the specific requirements and can be customised depending on the location where they are to be positioned, in order to make them in keeping with the surrounding environment.

The modular structure is an ideal way to solve the specific requirements of any particular location and it allows for future expansion and the replacement of damaged parts over the life of the module.

The living area is lit in the daytime by a big panoramic window facing towards the valley and it contains a kitchen, a table and seating. The sleeping area is equipped with bunk beds and spaces for the storage of gear.

The comfortable wooden interior finish recalls a traditional mountain hut and is intended to make a stay in the LEAP module, a pleasing and relaxing experience.

Its integrated monitoring station provides instant information on the interior comfort and the out-door weather conditions and processes data which can be distributed via the Web. The total electrical requirements are provided by the photovoltaic panels integrated in the outer shell.

The exterior colours, easily recognisable at a distance, are an important reference point for mountaineers. The outer textural design is inspired by the shaved straight stitch of mountain pullovers to evoke warmth and comfort.

LEAP is a project that proposes a change in lifestyle as great as that promised by the Radical Architectural Utopias. In the sixties, the Archigram collective designed robotic self-moving “Walking Cities”. On more practical grounds they tried to produce “Living Pods” (such as the Cushicle or the Sutaloon), self-sufficient capsules for survival in hostile situations, these became also an inspiration for those aspiring to a non traditional lifestyle.

Also in development at LEAPfactory is a project studying disposal of human waste and other refuse, a problem which remains one of the greatest challenges for those who frequent the mountains and other places to be protected. The LEAP objective is focused on resolving those problems through the development of a module dedicated to the elimination of refuse for sensitive locations, like the high mountains and all such places, where it is difficult to dispose of it.

Credits

Architects: Luca Gentilcore / Gandolfi & Gentilcore, Stefano Testa / Cliostraat
Design Team: Edoardo Boero, Marilena Cambuli, Massimo Teghille

Structural engineering: Luca Olivari / Olivari Composite Engineering, Andrea Bruzzone
Electrical engineering: EDF-ENR spa, Carlo Sasso, Andrea Sasso, Giampaolo Pittatore, Enrico Pons
Brand Design: Massimo Teghille & Undesign
Other consultants: Alberto Morino (geologia), Federico Valfrè di Bonzo (nivologia e valanghe)

Owner: Italian Alpine Club CAI Turin
Promoted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the SUCAI Ski Mountaineering School

Cost: 250.000,00 € (Total budget)
Design phase: sept. 2009 – dec 2010
Construction phase: may 2011 – oct 20100
Realization: Poligamma, Biella (composite materials), GVM Arreda, Torino (interiors), Plat Andrea, Aosta (on site works)

Nuova Capanna Gervasutti numbers:
30 square metres of usable space
6 contact points with the ground
2500 kg total weight
12 bed spaces
2.5 Kwh of solar energy produced
2 day to install unit

This pod-shaped woodland retreat floats on a net between the trees in Dorset, UK.

American designer Jesse Randzio completed A Separate Place in 2007 with the help of twelve students from the Architectural Association during a month long workshop in Hooke Park, Dorset.

Above: photograph is by Paxo Paxton

Materials were supplied locally and the pod is made of red cedar planks which overlap in the style of a clinker boat.

Copper rivets pin the shell together and a steel chimney pokes through the roof.

The pod rests within a net attached to a metal ring that is in turn suspended from the surrounding trees using tensile cables.

Above: photograph is by Paxo Paxton

After climbing up the rope netting, a small elliptical door gives access to the intimate interior where a fire can be lit in the miniature stove and elevated views glimpsed out over the forest.

Above: photograph is by Martita Llorens-Echegaray

Swinging gently with the movement of its occupants, it almost feels like being inside the hull of a boat.

Photography is by Jesse Randzio,  apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

The AV Custerson Award was given annually to a member of the Architectural Association community to fund a project promoting the use of timber at Hooke Park. 2007 recipient Jesse Randzio, 3rd Year, organized a month long summer workshop to build a Separate Place, a hanging retreat in the forest.

The project was exhibited at the Architectural Association, London, in 2008.

A Separate Place is a red cedar sitting room for just a few people. There is no building footprint, only shadow, and so minimal site impact. It is tailored specifically to its location but adaptable to any. The door is high and very small, but once inside it’s a fine safe place; there’s a warm fire burning and tea in the kettle.

Jesse designed and built the 4½ square meter floating capsule with the help of a dozen students from throughout the AA. The group visited local industries in Lyme Regis and in Bridport to learn boat building and rigging techniques.

The pod is built of western red cedar in the style of a clinker boat, with copper rivets and trim, and a steel chimney and stove. The timber was felled in the Hooke Park forest, and other materials were supplied locally.

We suggest a future of AV Custerson Award projects that are continuously under examination. Every five years, matching the cyclical forest management plan, a project should be reevaluated and steps should be taken to address the relevance of each project and its relationship to other Hooke Park programs.

In this way, we can ensure that Hooke Park remains an active, vibrant, and productive facility. A Separate Place is coming into its fifth year and is due for reconsideration.

The first waterproof down jacket from the classic mountain wear brand

Powderhorn has been making premium outerwear for extreme adventurers since the 1960s in Jackson Hole. The tough, performance-focused brand consistently produces stylish and functional garb for the mountains, and their latest innovation, the Gunpowder jacket, is a great go-to in this winter’s down lineup.

The new jacket, along with the women’s version, the Powdersmoke, is filled with Toray Waterproof Quix® Down—a 750-fillpower feather insulation treated to repel water. Down jackets have traditionally run the risk of getting overly bulky when wet, but the Powderhorn’s Quix® promises to keep the wearer warm, while remaining light and unsaturated in the rain if the Toray Airtastic™ silky nylon shell lets water thru.

Beyond looking and feeling great in the various elements, the jacket is equipped with sophisticated features for the serious mountaineer. The pockets are lined in soft fleece, and one of the two interior pockets has a plush, built-in goggle rag. The jacket comes with effective underarm ventilation and a built-in snow skirt that can be snapped back into the jacket for storage when not in use.

The Gunpowder and Powdersmoke jackets can be purchased in the U.S. for $425 and $400 from Powderhorn’s online store. Otherwise, check the store locator to track one down a nearby stockist.