StarBOX by studio Officina82

Completed in 2018 by studio Officina82. StarsBOX is a reflection on contemporary mountain life.

Architect: studio Officina82
Client: Rifugio Mongioie
Location: Rifugio Mongioie, Ligurian alps, Ormea, Cuneo, Italy
Year: 2018

From the architect: Human beings have always wandered in the highlands: they would seasonally hunt there; they would push their limits to find out what’s hidden behind the mountains; they would carve signs on the rocks to honour their deities, and they would look for summer pastures or farmlands. Housing solutions have been developed according to these various needs: stone houses and shepherd sheds.

If tourism is currently ruling the roots, our project aims to provide alternative methods to make use of the highlands in a temporary, reversible and light fashion. It wants to propose an intermediate and diverse answer which stands between camping in tents and lodging in mountain huts.

StarsBOX comes from the analysis of temporary housing solutions of migrating shepherds, who would visit the mountain pastures in the Ligurian Alps during the summer months. StarsBOX offers shelter, but can also open up towards the sky to provide the visitors with the most aesthetic views of the mountains.  

Look UP is our wish: let’s admire what is beyond, underneath and below us. Let’s perceive what’s around us with new eyes.  

StarsBOX is made of plain birch plywood panels. The project shares the vision of our “Cabanon”, currently exhibiting at 16^th International Architecture Exhibition - Italian Pavilion - curated by Mario Cucinella. It is also part of our studio’s experimental activities, which focus on the connection among traditional housing solutions, territory, and contemporary design. 

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