Bivacco

BIVACCO AUDE TU/e Renato Kindt Brute Architecture and Careful Craftmanship

Stefano Carrino | 1916343

Punta S. Matteo, bivouc Meneghello 46.37769358, 10.58775842

CONTENTS

01 | 02

INTRODUCTION AND STORYTELLING

03 | 04

CONTEXT AND VIA NORMALE

05 | 12

TECHNICAL AND ILLUSTRATED DRAWINGS

13 | 16

TEXTURE AND MATERIALITY STUDIES

17 | 18

CONTEXT MAQUETA PROCESS

19 | 20

TRANSPORTATION OF MATERIAL EXPLANED

21 | 22

LAST PASSAGE _ REFLECTIONS

23 | 24

CONCLUSIONS

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INTRODUCTION | ROPE PARTY In alpinism, the most logical route to take to reach a summit is called the “via normale”.

For many of these paths scattered throughout the endless mountains in the world, it is necessary to make use of specific techniques and practices to continue the ascent in progression to the peak to conquer.

Roping is a mountaineering practice of tying oneself to one’s partner with a rope to prevent many risks. This procedure, however, precludes a bond related to the adventure of the moment and the duo’s entire existence. Bonding with a mate means entrusting him or her with responsibility for one’s own person; it also means taking responsibility for that person’s life.

In the vast black-and-white world that the mountains give, the stories of friendvships established by this practice are endless. When an accident happens, there are two of you falling, there are two of you trying to solve it. But what happens when the endangered partner decrees that he or she wants to quit? What happens in the head of the other trying to save him? What about after the fact?

These questions also reflect the psyche of the person, to the mental fragility that can reach anyone even at a time when steady nerves are key.

01

STORY TELLING The story and the patron for whom I would like to create this Bivouac is precisely the survivor of one of these tragic adventures. A man, not a professional mountaineer, but one who despite his work in the city feels the call of those white lines, the need to feel tiny and fragile in a world that seems immobile.

Alessandro, lost his closest mountaineering friend in a tragic accident that forced him to cut the rope that bound them together, after repeated requests from Piero who exhausted wanted his friend to survive so he could tell their story.

Alessandro has always worked in the city in a construction company, the sound the mountains make to his ear is unique, but since Piero’s death, he has only one thing on his mind: to build a bivouac there where it all began, there where they first bonded and understood the chemistry and athleticism that bound them together.

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Cima S. Matteo in the Vioz Cevedale group, right there where the ledge widens and now gives a breathtaking view, where once a small bivouac dating back to World War I. Here, Alexander wants to create a solitary place, where he can go to take refuge from the city chaos but above all where he knows he can always find the spirit of that companion who has been so close to him and without whom he will no longer share those experiences.

This place will be built along the lines of the old bivouac, all the material will be brought up ‘humanely,’ Alessandro will be helped by all the mountaineering friends who knew Piero. One element of the construction, however, will be brought in by a helicopter that will place the metal screen in place.

CONTEXT MAP

TRENTINO ALTO ADIGE | DOSEGU’ GLACIER | SAN MATTEO PEAK 46.37944692, 10.56676456

BIVACCO MENEGHELLO

PUNTA SAN MATTEO

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ROUTING SAN MATTEO’S PEAK ‘Via Normale’

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CONTEXT TOPOGRAPHY

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FLOOR PLAN 06

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2,5

SECTIONS 1 | 2

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SECTIONS 3 | 4

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SECTIONS 5 | 6

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SECTIONS 7 | 8

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AXONOMETRY EXPLOSION STEEL SHELL

INTERIOR CORE

INTERIOR FORNITURE

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the bed is multifuncional in the sense that it can be slided to the left side, in this way it creates the space for another bed spot. contemplation windows that face the horyzon, the panorama on top of the ridge gives a fantastic overview of the Dosegu glacier free space to install a stove served as a tiny kitchen or to store skii and other equipment necesessary to the climb.

outhouse type WC, the black trench leads in a barrel where the stool is collected and then carried down periodically.

panoramic table, a point of contemplation and reflection. Here Alessandro fills his notebook with thoughts and theories.

containing drawers to storage not only gear and food supplies but also sheets and other livings.

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2,5

TEXTURES | MATERIAL EXTERIOR The shell which will be installed as one piece and transported by helicopter is finished with a particular type of paint. This tint made with pigments of pre-oxygenate copper will contribute to improving insulation. Furthermore, this specific material used as finishes will change color over the years as shown in the hypothesis below.

Orange is a particular color, especially for the saturated color world that belongs to the mountains. It will make the bivacco visible and recognisable from a distance, over the passing of time, while the pigments are changing color the hutt will turn its visibility letting just the people who have already been there or know its reputation accessible.

Tries

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Photos tries

TEXTURES | MATERIAL INTERIOR Shou sugi-ban is a japanese method which consist in burning the wood with proper tools. This particular technique its known to improve the insulation of the space due to the carbon consolidation in the wood veins. These tiles provide a warmer aesthetic while giving an atmosphere of personal spiritual gathering. Furthermore, this darker color will raise the contrast with the world that is outside, creating a feeling of intimate, private, and protected space which will serve also as a hermit’s hutt. Burned timber always reminds us humans about the burning core of life. How this makes Alessandro remember all the adventures full stuffed of life lived, with his lost friend is hence blatant.

Shuo sagi-ban technique

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Photos

Tries

CONTEXT MAQUETA

paper cast

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spry foam cover

solid cast upside down

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melted wax puoring

dried wax

removing srpy foam for pealing of the cast

TRANSPORTATION The method of transporting building materials, through human toil, in single file, all tied together by a rope, a thread of life that the latter is meant to represent. Alexander, his family, and Piero’s family will undertake this journey with the awareness of remembrance. Here the metaphor of the whole project becomes a little stronger because it is precisely this procession that is the beginning of remembrance, of memory for Piero.

Once again the rope will be the protagonist, to bind everyone even tighter in the moment of meeting with their personal thoughts.

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The fatigue, each step in the snow well weighed and thought out, and the knots in the harness to prevent something from falling or slipping off represent the details, the manual skill, and careful craftsmanship.

The transport instead of the metal shell, by helicopter, will provide the metaphorical filling of the sky, where Alexander’s companion now watches them. This brutalism, still human, will guide them through the way forward, like a colorful signal in a still, black-and-white world.

46.37944692, 10.56676456

46.37769358, 10.58775842

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LAST PASSAGE Arne Næss, a Swedish philosopher born in the early 20st century, died at the age of 97. As an expert mountaineer, he led some of the pioneering expeditions to the Himalayan peaks and always maintained a central relationship with the mountain as a place of reflection, in which he expressed the Taoist must ‘listen with the third ear’ and ‘think like a mountain.

He was also one of the first intellectuals to found an ecology movement in the second half of the 20th century: Deep Ecology.

This brief introduction to the character Næss will serve to better understand the chemistry that existed between comrades Alessandro and Piero:

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The two had just completed a trade expedition with their other companions (following their double ascent to the San Matteo peak) and once back in their homes, they arranged to meet at the renowned Trento film festival (Trentofilmfestival) for the premiere of the film LOOP by Arne Næss himself.

The friends sit next to each other, excited to see the film by this philosopher who has guided them so much in the thoughts of their high-altitude adventures. The lights go out, the imposing figure of Arne appears on the screen, the wrinkles reveal in their furrows the experiences the man has had, his eyes shine with deep thoughts, and so it begins: - we say we go ‘out’ into the wilderness, but I would say we go ‘into’ the wilderness. When you go into the wilderness you have the opportunity to listen to yourself, to listen to your deepest soul: what do I want? What do I like? How can my... let’s call it “quality of life” be maintained or improved? It is not about possessions or quality but what you feel you are, and how you prefer life. What makes us happy? And how can we have more of it? There are very powerful forces in society that would like to induce us to consume more and more, to discover things we think we need. A lifestyle is created that can never belong to everyone simply because then the world would go to hell. Instead, we should follow our own personal lifestyle in which we try to understand what we really need, instead of aspiring to what society or the economy foist on us. So being is much more important than having.

So it is that Alessandro now, in his now completed bivouac on the mountain ridge, sitting and wrapped in his solitary thoughts, remembers that look of understanding from his friend. As if the philosopher had first stolen the words from their mouths and then given them cause for argument and comparison with one another. He remembers well that evening with his friend, one of the best spent untied from the rope but united by an even stronger bond of complicity.

He looks around, the wood of the bivouac walls leading his gaze between the various imperfections of the material, then looks out into the infinity of the glacier at his feet, his eyes searching for something that is not there, as if hoping to catch another glimpse of his friend.

A tear falls on his diary, he is unconsciously writing to himself in the very words of the alpinists philosopher.

- the majesty of mountains is something else, something greater and more imposing than their actual size. Perhaps it is what some call ‘divine’. Even as a child, I was struck by the idea that they had been there for millions of years. Thus the idea of climbing mountains was born, but that certainly did not make them any less imposing.

Evidently, my life is coming to an end. When I look back, well, I feel guilty about some things. But unfortunately, that is how it was. I would love to make amends, but in practice it is impossible. It cannot be done. I don’t think much of myself as a human being. That’s important. I value other people more as humans, as vital essences for us. What human being have you been? I would like to give a good answer to that question.

REFERENCE AND CONCLUSIONS The idea to tell the story came about while I was reading the book ‘vertical vision, the great adventure of mountaineering’ by A. Gogna.

I felt the need to escape the city, to go and find my mental refuge, the one I was used to having in my hometown. This book, being a mountaineer myself, gives me the thoughts and feelings to escape the concrete jungle. In one chapter I read the story of the San Matteo peak in the Dosegu glacier in Italy. The chapter was about its climbing history, its techniques and its difficulties.

Here irony plays its part, because this same mountain was on the list of climbable mountains for me and my friend this summer.

We had to change our objective because the Meneghello Bivouac, supporting the summit, collapsed from the ridge where it stood. So I collected some photos of our approach following the ‘normal route’ and started to imagine the story of two friends who solidified their bond with mountain adventures. I then made a very personal project about these activities and the concepts that have always guided me while in the wilderness; this for me is also a representation of the careful craftsmanship behind the story, which I have tried to curate with details and emotions.The brutalism of the story of the hole is found in the tragedy of the loss of Piero, in the most horrible way imaginable.

Both of these concepts can also be juxtaposed in the search for materials, their representations and motivations. Also in the artificial way of us humans to always bring something into nature that represents human craftsmanship, but which is also able to isolate us like hermits in a world that has been still for millions of years, like that of the mountains.

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