Winter stations

Toronto, Canada

Design team: Weiwei Mao (SP), Giuseppe Vultaggio (IT)

When we think of a refuge, usually we imagine it as an interior space, isolated from the outside, since it should offer you protection and security.
The starting point of our design process are two questions: Could we really isolate ourselves completely? Is it a really a solution to stay closed and refuse to live in a free-wild space?
So we have thought the idea of refuge, where we combined the necessity of isolation and the desire to stay in contact with the exterior world.
The proposal idea consists in offering the visitor, by a staircase added to the lifeguard tower, the experience of ascending to the refuge. It is at the tower high point, where the visitor will be able to get a full connection with the surrounding environment.
On the other hand, this installation is closed with two wood walls covered by a reflection layer, making the shelter disappear on the beach:
“Stairway to Heaven” is a ghost sculpture!