While some forms of land art are more permanent, others are fleeting, but the movement itself isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s as popular as ever among contemporary artists looking to make their mark on the natural world, and Simon Beck is one such artist.

A cartographer by trade, Beck’s no stranger to mapmaking. Known for his impressive geometric snow art, he’s currently embarked on plotting much larger works in the mountains of France.

For over a decade, Beck, has created intricately beautiful artwork on otherwise-untouched snow, often walking for up to 12 hours a day to realize his complicated visions amid the wintry, sometimes inhospitable landscape. Carving a path with nothing but snowshoes and a ski pole, his works are the epitome of fleeting land art. Often disturbed by wind, weather, and human interaction, the geometric shapes can also look different when viewed in full sun versus partial shade, early morning versus twilight – but they’re best appreciated when viewed from above.

And the designs are certainly anything but random. Beck’s attention to detail and intricate planning is a testament to his cartography chops. Every step is planned out, and every piece is conceived on paper before he ever steps foot outdoors. Fittingly enough, the initial stages are plotted in map form (one millimeter on the page is equivalent to one step on the field).

Once plotted, Beck heads out to football-sized areas of untouched land, where he spends hours bringing his vision to life across the snowy fields. But the results are anything but bleak. Sprawling, ambitious, and starkly beautiful, the intricate pieces are almost unsettling in their juxtaposition with their surroundings. It’s an almost uncanny effect, as if the world’s largest snowflakes have fallen back to Earth.

Though Beck’s dynamic land art was put on hold over the past couple of years due to COVID-19 restrictions, he’s back at it now, working hard to create geometric gems that transform snowscapes into magically imaginative works of art.

The post Map Maker Simon Beck Creates Gigantic Geometric Gems in Snow Fields first appeared on Dornob.

Reintroduced on Kickstarter this fall, “Snowfeet” is a pretty simple concept. They’re made of a highly durable, lightweight fiberglass-reinforced material with metal ski edges and adjustable bindings. They’re only slightly longer than your footwear, too, upturned at the ends like regular skis so you can slide down snowy hills with ease. They also have heel brakes, giving you a bit of control over your speed.

The Snowfeet creators say these strap-on mini skis are ideal for bringing to downhill ski slopes, cross-country ski trails, and snow parks, but you could also use them on forest trails, hilly public parks, and other places with enough snow pack to ski on. Because they’re so compact, you also have more freedom of movement than you normally would with skis, enabling you to attempt more tricks than you might ordinarily dare. But they’re also friendly to total beginners, and arguably less intimidating than conventional ski gear.

They come in two versions: Snowfeet II and Snowfeet X. The latter is a bit more robust, featuring an additional pair of toe straps and ladder straps as well as extra screws, nuts, and an edge tuner stone. The company says that while the original design is “great for those who just want to have fun in the snow,” the X is “great for those who take this sport seriously and require the highest quality without compromise.”

The design is small enough to easily fit into a backpack, though each pair already comes with a storage bag of its very own. You don’t even need ski poles to use them, though you might want to have some anyway, just for fun. The creators recommend using Snowfeet with any winter shoes or snowboard boots with bindings, particularly waterproof shoes that fit your ankle firmly.

They add: “You can use Snowfeet on snow that is not deeper than +/- 20 centimeters. Snowfeet are best on ski slopes, snow parks, forest paths, and off the slopes too, just not in deep powder. By the way, most skis and snowboards are not suited for deep powder either.”

One size fits men’s sizes five through 13 and women’s sizes 6.5 through 14.5, which does, unfortunately, leave some people out — including kids. Maybe a future version will be a little more inclusive of people with smaller and larger-than-average feet.

Feeling intrigued? The original Snowfeet design is currently available online at the company’s website or on Amazon for about $150.

While the Kickstarter campaign for the new, updated versions has already ended, you can still preorder your own pair of Snowfeet II or X on Indiegogo for $118. Even better, initial orders are expected to start shipping in January 2020, so you’ll have them in time for the upcoming winter sport season. The more pairs you buy at once, the more money you save.

The post Snowfeet Instantly Turn Your Shoes into Mini Skis first appeared on Dornob.

Situated in the Sierra National Forest of California, miles above sea level, this gorgeous rustic modern vacation rental property boasts Yosemite as well as swimming holes, hiking trails,  rolling landscapes, waterfalls and boulders all around – an eclectic mix seen in the architecture of this structure as well.

At high elevations, shedding snow and deflecting moisture is a crucial roll of residential rooftops, hence the steeply-angled aluminum that shapes this triangular a-frame cabin. A matching communications tower plus outbuilding sits alongside the primary dwelling space. However, equal attention is paid to the rural surroundings, reflected in the use of rough, rusticated and weathered timber siding and deck-topping slats.

Standard modules are used throughout the prefabricated cabin to aid in the prefabrication process – 4 by 8 feet becomes the organizing principle when it comes to anything (plywood panels, metal siding, etc…) that can be cut and shaped to this simplified scale.

This kind of quaint abode is unlikely to win any awards, but not all good designs aim for such accolades – nor should they. Here it seems sufficient that the place serves its purpose, feels unique and responds to the needs of both renters and owners alike – namely by providing a fun experience and durable property. 

“Far Meadow is heaven for all of us who seek the call of the wild, and the remote places that shift our senses back to the natural essentials.”

“Brought to life by Boutique Homes founders and design connoisseurs, Heinz Legler and Veronique Lievre as ‘a simple retreat for chic nomads’, it’s so much more than that. It’s classic design where you’d least expect it. It’s escape without compromise or crowds. It’s adventure and carefree fun with friends (including the furry four-legged kind who are always welcome in our world).”

“Set within beautiful, unspoiled meadows high in the Sierra Nevadas, ringed by majestic forests, this cabin rental in Yosemite is both timeless and modern. A place of unplugged peace, where you can leave the world behind, embrace simplicity and marvel at nature’s amazing display.”

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The self-described “car tent” mounts to the top of your car via a set of built-in suction cups. It takes about 30 seconds to set up, first by positioning it over your vehicle and then by lowering the lever that applies the suction.

Once you’re done, your car will totally be totally safe from the sap, pine needles, and leaves that would otherwise fall onto it whenever you parked near or under a tree. On scorching hot days, the umbrella’s reflective material will also keep the interior of your car cooler. Its canvas and high-strength fiberglass structure is so strong, in fact, the company claims that a brick dropped from a roof would bounce right off, offering protection from whatever might fall from the sky. Acid rain, bird droppings, and dirt easily rinse off its exterior coating, too.

Set up the Lanmodo right before a big snowstorm hits, and you can be the first one out of the neighborhood the next morning. Not only does it keep the snow from collecting on your car, but it also has an add-on vibrating feature that physically shakes snow off the umbrella to keep it from accumulating. You’ll find that this feature also works great with hail, sleet, and even the icicles of freezing rain. Special straps slide down over your side mirrors to keep it perfectly in place during strong winds (up to 30 mph), with another set looping directly into your car doors to prevent theft. Adjustable heights allow you to customize the car tent to meet your specific needs, opening and closing it from a safe distance with the help of a handy remote control.

The Lanmodo is battery-powered, but it can run on a single charge for up to 45 days, so you’ll never have to worry about it draining out frequently. The umbrella even boasts a few charging ports of its own for you to use as power sources during your road trips and camping adventures.

In addition to protecting the surface of your car, the Lanmodo offers an add-on pop out canopy on one side that can be used as a roof for personal protection from bad weather. If you want to use the umbrella even further away from your car, you’ll be happy to hear that it can also be transformed into a freestanding shelter using yet a set of flaps built into its sides.

The all-weather car umbrella is available in several different colors and patterns, but if you really feel like it, you can get your company logo or favorite sports team printed on the canvas. Unfortunately, the Lanmodo’s design does not currently cover the complete length of every vehicle (such as long trucks), so you’ll find it best to research the options available to you before committing to any one model. You should also keep in mind that the car tent won’t stick to soft car tops.

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An Ideal Union

The CEF chose MAD for their highly touted project based on their reputation for creating highly imaginative, award-winning designs that pushed the limits of possibility. MAD’s impressive portfolio overflows with remarkable projects, reflecting visions for the future in both building technology and unique forms. Some of MAD’s most famous undulating creations include an orb-like apartment block in Paris, a George Lucas-founded museum that resembles a spaceship, and an opera house in northeast China that evokes the feeling of being on the deck of a massive interstellar vessel.

Choosing the Perfect Site

After meeting with MAD, CEF’s 74 members decided to build their conference center on the rocky terrain of the Yabuli Mountains in Northeastern China — the snow-covered region where they’ve been hosting their annual meetings for years. It was also agreed that the project’s design would reflect the dramatic natural landscape surrounding the site, and that the structure itself would be situated along the axis of a mountain.

Conference Center Specs

In addition to a library, standard studios, and conference rooms of all sizes, the 174,354-square-foot, four-story Yabuli Conference Center will boast an impressive 1,000-seat auditorium, along with a more intimate 350-seat venue. The sleek exterior rises only 79 feet, creating an exotic oyster image against the majestic mountaintops: softly rounded, snow-white, and dramatically unobtrusive.
A huge skylight beams down on the central entrance hall, which itself separates assorted conference rooms. The skylight symbolizes the brilliant minds that share bright stimulating ideas during lectures and conferences. Guests can enter the conference center at either the ground level or the first floor, both of which blend the insightful interior design with the stark beauty of the surrounding snow-kissed mountains.

Unique specially crafted windows have been strategically placed on all floors so visitors can gaze out on endless panoramic views of the contiguous natural vistas around them.
The interior architecture of the Yabuli Conference Center rivals the exterior façade in terms of both imagination and creativity. The walls are symmetrically sculpted and effortlessly follow the flowing lines of the building’s exterior. The soft shades of ivory that dominate the interior create a calm, tranquil ambiance, while the winding, transparent white stairways inspire clear thinking. Rich brown accents perfectly frame these boundless shades of pale.

A spokesperson for MAD recently boasted: “While humble in its presence, it does not lose the dynamic atmosphere of northern China – integrated with the sky, the ground, the snow, the forest, and the mountains.”

The post MAD Designs Epic Conference Center Amid Yabuli Mountains first appeared on Dornob.

That “feeling planted” sensation is the result of the Sno-Go’s unusual three-ski design. The ski bike uses S.L.A.T., or Synchronized Lateral Articulating Technology, to give you stability and maximum control, and its 13 pivot points let you turn on a dime simply by steering and pushing down on the handlebars.

Want to tackle a bump or jump? Simply pull back on the handlebars to lift the front of the Sno-Go. Stopping — yes, that’s important! — is easy enough, too. Just lean your weight over to one side and cut into the snow, as you would if you were skiing.

The company used a similarly intuitive mix of skiing, biking, and snowboarding techniques when designing the Sno-Go to make the mountains more accessible to people of all ages and skill levels.

The Sno-Go was built using 6061 aircraft-quality heat-treated aluminum alloy, so you know it’ll be durable no matter what terrain you throw at it, and you don’t need to worry too much about rust, because all of its hardware is stainless steel. It’s obvious that no detail has been overlooked in the design process. “From the Rock Shox front suspension to the all-mountain wood core twin tip skis, every inch of the bike has been drilled down to a science for making the ride smooth and controlled,” the company says.

The Sno-Go team recommends that users wear sturdy boots with plenty of support and thick rubber soles when riding to keep their feet safe, comfortable, and toasty in the foot grips. Snowboarding boots will do the trick, if you have them.

If you’re wondering how you’ll get the Sno-Go to the top of the mountain, don’t worry. There’s a chair-lift hook on it, so you and the bike can ride up easily and safely, arriving in position and ready to hit the snow. And after you’ve enjoyed your last run of the day, you’ll be thankful for the bike’s quick-release system, which makes it easy to break down for storage.

The Sno-Go ran a successful crowdfunding campaign and is on track to start shipping in January, just in time for prime snow conditions. We predict a sharp rise in anxious weather forecast watching, with many people fervently hoping for snow days in the months to come.

The company says that currently, more than 200 ski resorts in North America allow ski-bikes, and that number is only going up. It advises that customers check with their favorite ones before taking the plunge and investing in a Sno-Go.

The post Sno-Go: Is it a Bike? Is it Skis? It’s Both. first appeared on Dornob.

But what if you could just stick a robot outside your front door, press a button on a remote control, and watch it clear paths for you while you’re still in your pajamas? It sounds like a retro-futuristic dream from a more optimistic era, but believe or not, autonomous miniature snow plows are quickly becoming a reality. As technology continues to progress and self-driving vehicles become the norm on our roads, it’s likely that robust robotic snow plows will become more common, but remote-controlled snow plows already exist. Do they really work, or are they just toys?

The answer is a little bit of both — at least for now. While most of the remote-controlled snow plows currently on the market aren’t powerful enough to push much snow around, more robust models do exist, and some people have even managed to DIY their own versions. For instance, the video above shows off what the ATR-Orbiter, a fully radio-controlled mobile robot crawler, can do.

SuperDroid Robots built a custom six-wheel-drive remote-controlled robot and equipped it with a snow plow attachment that’s sure to pack a powerful punch thanks to its rigid aluminum frame. The plow is raised and lowered by a 400-pound electric linear actuator, and the wheels are mounted on solid steel axles supported by heavy-duty block bearings. Essentially, this plow is quite a beast — one made with many of the same high quality materials you’d find on a full-sized vehicle. Interested? You can order your own ready-to-ship Prebuilt 6WD RC Snow Plow Robot, but it’ll set you back nearly $7,000.

A company called Creative Robotic Systems offers the Roboplow, a custom-made robot that does a halfway-decent job of clearing a path. This particular robotic snow plow was available to the public for a while, but it now seems to have gone off the market.

If you’re a robot-building enthusiast, perhaps you could learn a thing or two from RCSparks Studio, the company that created the DIY “OVERKiLL Snow Plow,” which is powered by a remote-controlled monster truck, and the “Rotary Snow Plow,” which uses a semi-truck as its base. Both of these mini-plows were built just for fun and tested in extremely cold temperatures reaching up to -35 degrees Celsius.

Popular Science has a tutorial for an RC Snow Plow that may not replace good old-fashioned shoveling, but it’ll definitely look cute scooping tiny piles of snow up in the yard. It takes about two hours to build at a cost of around $389.

Hoping for a cheaper more ready-made option? Amazon offers a variety of remote-controlled snow plows that are really intended to be used for entertainment purposes, but they sure look fun to use. Check out the Kyosho Blizzard FR, the Bruder MACK Granite Dump Truck with Snow Blade, and the Dickie Toys RC-Pistenbully, which range from $130 to $300.

The post A Robot Snow Plow is Here to Keep You Warm first appeared on Dornob.

Take, for instance, this highly unusual prefabricated home in Stockholm, Sweden. Conceived of by Street Monkey Architects, the roof of the “Pulkabacken House” (Swedish for “Sledding Hill”) doubles as a bunny slope.

Pulkabacken House is deceptively simple when viewed from the back. Constructed from concrete modules and black steel panels, the home mostly looks like a standard modernist unit and contrasts beautifully with both winter snow and summer vegetation. Walk around to the front of the house, however, and you’ll think you’ve accidentally wandered into a ski resort.

Built on a sloping site on Värmdö, an island in the center of the Stockholm archipelago, Pulkabacken House is warmed and protected by its neighboring hillside. The clients wanted their home to feel like a refuge, camouflaged and obstructed when viewed from the road despite its close proximity to other houses. In reality, the architects chose to angle the home’s roofline down toward the higher end of the hillside for privacy purposes just as much as they did for recreational ones.

Most of the ramp’s surface has been made smooth for sledding fun. Below, on the home’s second story balcony, a ladder conveniently leads back up to the roof for those who want to go down the hill a second (or third?) time. This same balcony opens into the main living area, which looks out onto the sea. This floor boasts living and dining spaces, a kitchen with a study bar, a master bedroom, and two bathrooms. An internal stairwell leads down to the ground floor and features a cozy reading nook for those days when it’s just too cold to go outside.

Three more bedrooms, a family room, and a bathroom are all located on the Pulkabacken House’s bottom level, along with an outdoor terrace that steps out into a garden. The entire interior makes heavy use of a wintry color palette, whose recurring shades of white and silvery gray help blend the home into the surrounding outdoor landscape. The result is very much in line with the clean, orderly aesthetic of modern Swedish design.

During the summer, the rooftop ramp is covered in grass, transforming the slope into a terrace that the architects have called a “party deck.” In fact, Street Monkey sees the home promoting a vacation lifestyle all year long. While most homes on Värmdö are only used in the summertime, Pulkabacken House seems to have been made for all seasons. Plus, as Stockholm continues to grow, more people are beginning to inhabit its surrounding islands beyond the summer peak season.

“In the summer, the population of this area doubles and children migrate in packs from house to house,” explains architect Cage Copher. “One night you could end up with all of your friends’ children sleeping over, so the bedrooms are large and many.” On the local reception to the sledding roof, he says, “The kids who live nearby seem to be making the most of it!”

The post Sloping Roof Doubles as a Sledding Hill first appeared on Dornob.

During the day, this Japanese home is deceptively cool – a white structure that blends into the billowing snow drifts on all sides. At night, it gives off a stunningly warm glow, which reflects its mission: to provide cozy heat in the coldest of places.

Kengo Kuma created this experimental structure called “Même House” on the north island of Japan, known for its blistering chilly winters, and uses traditional principles and concepts with modern materials and techniques.

For starters, its translucency works both ways – its occupants wake with the sun. It also works with distributed heat, based around historical prototypes in which the central hearth was never allowed to go out, and provided warmth by keeping the floor warm at all times (in this version: radiant heating).

But that is just the beginning – contemporary techniques take it past these traditions: “We wrapped a wooden frame made of Japanese larch with a membrane material of polyester fluorocarbon coating. The inner part is covered with removable glass-fiber-cloth membrane. Between the two membranes, a polyester insulator recycled from PET bottles is inserted that penetrates the light. This composition is based on the idea that by convecting the air in between, the internal environment could be kept comfortable because of the circulation.”

More from the architect Kengo Kuma

“We do not treat insulation within the thickness of heat-insulation material only, which was a typical attitude of the static environmental engineering in 20th century. What we aim at is a dynamic environmental engineering to replace it for this age. That we utilize the radiant heat from the floor is part of it, and it has been verified that you could spend several days in winter here without using floor heating.”

“The other reason we covered the house with membrane material was our longing for a life surrounded by natural light, as if you were wrapped in daylight on the grassland. Without relying on any lighting system, you simply get up when it gets light, and sleep after dark – we expect this membrane house enables you to lead a life that synchronizes the rhythm of the nature.”

The post Glowing Japanese Home Wrapped in a Sheer Membrane first appeared on Dornob.

Set near the snow-prone Sugar Bowl ski resort near Lake Tahoe, this house has to content with snow loads that come with nearly ten feet of pack at a time.

The resulting design is definitely modern, but it recalls railroad avalanche sheds of times passed with a roof tilt designed to shed excessive weight after heavy snows (depositing excess, in this case, behind the home so as not to endanger people entering or exiting or block key doors).

The entire residence is raised up on a concrete plinth to keep it accessible even during deep-snowing winters. The cedar-enclosed first story is wrapped in bright warm wood, enclosing entry, boot, guest and children’s rooms as well as support spaces.

Lower-level windows frame lovely landscape views like pictures, while the second story (containing master bedroom and living room areas) provides all-around lookouts toward the surrounding forest and mountains and features additional woods including walnut and fir.

Not quite minimalist nor really rustic, crisp engineered lines and clean architectural details are found throughout, contrasting nicely with the organic landscapes that stand out on all sides. Design by John Maniscalco Architecture and photography by Matthew Millman.

The post Winter Home Roof Sloped for Snow Like an Avalanche Shed first appeared on Dornob.

A nearly-magical shelter from the sky could seem like a godsend to those lost in the wilderness … or a welcome relief for other wanderers, simply looking for somewhere to lie low on a mountaintop until a storm blows over. This seasonal, solar-powered prefab is intended to solve the difficult design challenge of locating rural and emergency shelters when and where they are needed most.

Cimini Architettura started with a straightforward and efficient central volume containing six bunked beds, a living room, entryway and bath zone. A single floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall window offers views out over the landscape, while letting in natural light.

Meanwhile, the fundamental necessities for survival are built in as well – solar-collecting panels feed an emergency battery, helping melt ice for drinking water and fueling the under-floor heating system. Depending on the season, it is made to be moved up to twice annually.

Fragile ecosystems tend not to fare well with permanent structures, making this light-footprint alternative the perfect temporary structure for remote and sensitive sites. Steel stilts sunk into the ground remain behind when the buildings are moved throughout the year, making for easy re-installation.

Wait a moment, though, this all sounds great in theory but … since when is flying a whole habitat via helicopter a green way to go about building housing? As it turns out, less fuel is used in a few flights per year than would be by other means.

More info from the architects on “Eco-Temporary Refuge:”

“The primary objectives of the house are to be self-sufficient, flexible and easily removable. It is built and assembled in a factory and transportable by helicopter. The structure of the house rests on pillars, aimed at making minimal contact and disturbances in the pre-existing conditions of the soil when deploying the house.”

“ETR is designed to sustain 2 to 4 flights per year, with the anticipation that mountain rescue helicopters are the most efficient and least invasive way to transport the house from different sites with having to construct roads and transportation lines. The proposal is currently under development, to be used in the mountains 3000 meters above sea-level in the winter, and brought to the valleys in the summer to be used as information points for skier safety.”

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Built as a black box and hugging a snow-covered hillside, this sustainable house sits like a rock on the mountain – a rugged resort entrenched against wild winter weather all around it. While winds howl and snow blows on the outside, the cozy interior is designed to be comfortable and warm in all the right places through a series of remarkable sustainable-energy and other warmth-retention building strategies.

First, the highest part of the home takes advantage of rising heat perfect for making the bedroom the warmest space in the house. Second, geothermal heating augments other heating strategies for increased overall warmth. And third, a double-paneled wall uses interstitial spaces and active pumping systems to push out the cold air while maintaining and circulating the warm.

Moreover, the exterior use of black is not purely stylistic nor accidental – this color, of course, helps keep the structure warmer as well by retaining solar heat. The bedroom is also placed along the southern edge of the home for direct sunlight access while the more mellow (but less warm) indirect northern light penetrates on the living room side, where the best downhill views are to be had as well.

All in all, this design by Nicholas Dorval-Bory is an excellent example of adapting architecture to even the most extreme environments – and turning landscape liabilities into designer assets through clever material choices, site orientation strategies and other simple structural tricks of the trade. Few designers can tap so much into the potential of a property, creating something both internationally appealing and locally functional.

“The program is a mountain refuge, located on a steep terrain. This exemplarily functional and energetic efficient type of vernacular habitat is an indispensable reference for such a project, much more than a traditional second home in the hills. Like a refuge or a traditional châlet, our project fits into the site seeking primarily to protect itself from cold, which can be particularly strong on the hills of Santiago. The refuge, whose function is to accommodate guests engaged in winter sports during the day, has to be a friendly and warm but easy place to use, since its goal is meal and rest.”

“Thus, the project is organized around a squared plan, allowing flexibility of use and architectural efficiency. This compact design allows a maximum optimization of the Xella blocks but also a very low coefficient of heat loss. To retain maximum heat, the house is settled the closest to the ground, with no overhang. The central courtyard is designed as a buffer space, generating a variation in the organization of the program while providing a significant supply of light and fresh air in summer.”

“The entire house is also really thought of as a full climate. The northerly aspect (the project is located in the south hemisphere), a black roughcast coating and various passive heating devices generate a very pleasant interior atmosphere in winter. The functional distribution of spaces is organized according to the most suitable temperature for each activity, playing with the different levels allowed by the natural slope and with a concentric organization of the program.”

The post Rugged Sustainable House Embraces a Snow-Covered Mountain in Chile first appeared on Dornob.