In collaboration with Dana Dimalanta and Saul Flores
Hjǫrð is a proposal for a guesthouse space to experience the Northern lights. The design explores one of the place making elements in human congregation - fire. Because fire was one of the first ways in which mankind defined space, Hjǫrð is about the experience of warmth and human connection to each other and the earth.
Driven by the landscape, Hjǫrð seeks design inspiration from the roaming sheep of Iceland’s plateaus. This metaphor became a driving force for the relationship of the guesthouse to the main house, where the main house acted as a shepherd to the flock of guesthouses.
Delicately dotting the landscape, the guesthouses utilized a translucent ETFE skin with a wooden diagrid to create an intimate indoor experience with the Northern lights. The solid, concrete main house embeds itself into the landscape to provide a secure space for the portable guesthouse structures. Materiality communicates the connection between the old and new, creating a symbolic relationship between technology and tradition.
