Fall 2023
Antarctica
Group Project with Jacob Chung, Qrin Park
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Many remember summer for its bright sun, gentle breezes and easy laughter. But for those living near polar extremes, the sun means something different: it is shy, fleeting and precious for most of the year, until suddenly, in the summer months, it shines 24 hours a day; yet the spectacle of continuous daylight is one that still cannot be enjoyed without thick layers. And the capsule-like dormitories of research stations make a tacit assertion that this is a landscape that remains clinical and foreign.

How can we bring a special interpretation of summer to a place of perpetual winter? If summer is the invitation to shed layers, can a living structure itself change clothes, moods and lifestyles? Against restrictive environments, we propose a space of limitless possibility for any living condition. To the opposing forces of domestic comfort and a confrontation with weather, we create a double skin, revealing architecture and conditioning systems as mediators for light, temperature, and survival. A thermal buffer zone between nested volumes provides spaces with median temperatures and unusual activities, such as taking a hot bath with a snowy backdrop. An operable insulation layer can open to reveal a panoramic view, and close to reduce heating load, but also creates an artificial night in a region of eternal day. When architecture blends indoor and outdoor, it brings comfort for researchers, invites visitors to a new summer experience, and proves that summer can happen anywhere.