Transparent Water & Light System - Mountain Hut Transformation

Project Description

-Teamwork in System Study- Cactus roots can change characteristics as the water and light supply fluctuates. After a rainfall, existing dehydrated roots become more water conductive and new rain roots are formed to help soak up water. In times of sunny days, the rain roots shrivel and fall off and the existing roots dehydrate. The shrinkage of the existing roots creates an air gap that helps to prevent water in the roots from escaping back to the soil. From the cactus analysis, it can be seen as a water & light collection system. Therefore, our team started to study how the cactus collect water and how architectural material (transport the light) can transform into a building system. We develop the system that the mechanism can transform into different types, which are like the cactus’s roots, the system can adapt to different circumstances and can easily change its form and type due to different environment program. Moreover, due to the research of acrylic material's special characteristic (transparent, lightweight, reflectable), this water & light collection system provides light shade and gives the least intervention of nature, creating a transparent surface that can reflect the landscape in cities and nature. Our original thought was to connect the system with the node. However, the disadvantage of this type of aggregation was that it couldn’t transform by itself because all the unit was connected together. Therefore, we create a structure panel that the fog collection unit not only can do the transformation on the pannel but also have stability at the same time. -Individual System Application Design- Taiwan is an island that is well known for its mountain views. According to the study, the application number for climbing Mountain Jade grows higher and higher each year but the infrastructure in the deep mountain is still enough to support the activities. Therefore, I started to consider that the fog collection system can do multitasks for the mountain climbers which not only apply clean and fresh water but also uses the characteristic of acrylic to create better light sources. This water collection system pavilion provides light shade and gives the least intervention of nature, creating a transparent surface that can reflect the green in the forest. I design a light structure that can easily hang up and apply the system at the same time. Furthermore, it also can support different activities in this hut including observation platform and water fountain.