Dutch studio Atelier Van Lieshout have created a mobile, indestructible dwelling with an armoured shell.
Made of steel plates reclaimed from boats, the living unit is furnished with benches, a toilet and a wood stove.
Called Vostok Cabin, the project was commissioned by Fondation 93 and is on show at the Cite de la Science in Paris until 13 March 2011.
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Here are some more details from Atelier Van Lieshout:
Atelier Van Lieshout, Vostok Cabin, 2010
Huge change is no longer in the past or future but in the present. Our society as we know it and have known to be safe is fast-changing.
Value systems of yesterday are no longer relevant. A new civilization is ahead of us. This ideological society offers choice; are we able to find alternate ways of living, another model or are our days counted?
The changing climate, growing poverty, wars and more are only expanding. This movable nomadic dwelling unit provides shelter from this disconcerting situation.
The armored shelter is made from old steel plates recuperated from demolished boats together with other leftover material from our current society.
The material due to its previous life is crooked, damaged and irregular. There is no straight edge to be constructed from these disastrous supplies.
The Cabin looks like an improvised defense/attack apparatus made by a local blacksmith in order to have a better chance of survival in times of revolution and civil war.
Inside you find an improvised toilet, woodstove, and benches. It is virtually indestructible.
See also:
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| Cascade by Atelier van Lieshout |
Furniture by Atelier Van Lieshout |
More furniture by Atelier Van Lieshout |
It´s a bit extreme. If there is a civil war coming to europe (its possible) i think this stuff will not prevent anyone. it is more a symbol – right?
looks like it was fun to weld :-)
I like the post-apocalyptic atmosphere.
Really looks like it was from Fallout
How exactly will this be "mobile," especially in the hopeless, post-apocalyptic world it was apparently designed for? It has what appears to be an electric light; where will the electricity come from? From the outside, with the doors closed, it actually looks more like an oven from a Nazi death camp than it does a shelter. Perhaps in the world this was designed for, that will probably be its best function: Burning the bodies of the dead.
I agree with Johann Koenitz (above): It seems like more of a symbol. As such, it would be best displayed in an art museum.
In an age when environmental warfare and catastrophes are becoming increasingly feasible, this is a bit outdated. It's the basic shed, the fundamental shelter: Laugier's hut for a post apocalyptic world.
This is borrowing an aesthetic from some of the most compelling imagery of today's best fiction…video games like Half Life 2, Borderlands, etc. The obsession with an apocalyptic future could make for a fascinating trend in Architecture.
I've seen it before. In Auswitch or Majdanek. Not nice.
I thought exactly the same thing. Very insensitive.
Looking at the unit as an outsider looking to gain entry, the hinges would be very the first point of failure. A small charge placed at any hinge would be enough to gain entry. In designing a structure such as this, the hinges should be internal to the door structure allowing the access to be controlled to subverting the structure itself.
this crammed little oven-like coffin of a living quarters is exactly where i'd like to live while the world around me is falling apart. obviously, this was designed to lift the spirits of the hopeless and dying.
great stuff.
I agree with Chuck and Jarek… This is sooo World War II. Makes pain in my stomach.
i agree with most of the above:
quirky and fun, yet ill-conceived and meaningless beyond itself.
It's kind of creating lonely and sad feeling
Yes, a great concern in the world today; affordable housing. Many architects of this movement are designing ideas as you have in this submission. Most are using "Land/Sea Containers" , which are very inexpensive as a start to a basic structure. I wish I was at my main computer, because I have many links to companies that are using this concept.
A search would be Container Homes or something of that sort. I get all pumped up when thinking of how this concept would solve the affordable housing problem throughout the world.
Dual purpose depending on climate: deep freezer or oven.
so, you're just supposed to crap right next to the bench? no divider between the toilet and the rest of the hut at least?
no thanks, I'm going Vault-Tec, just as long as it's not Vault 7 I'm in
very intriguing. love the textures that came out. not very mobile… hate to wear white inside this place.
Nice oven you have there..how would you like to be cooked sir?
Very cozy. Who wants some minestrone?
I think it's fantastic. I want one!
the chimney looks as its eager to accept a frag grenade, dropped there with a huge smile. it is also a perfect, indestructible man-grill, i'll go get a flamer.
pretty nice that artists think about surviving, but can they really survive?
Your welds aren't very good.
I would get some firewood, pile it round , and set fire to it. when they come out we get to nick all their gold, and whatever.
I think if you put wheels on it it would sell well in the usa.
you people, honestly.
So it's like a tank with no track, motor or guns? We should nick name it the "Sitting duck"? Say someone welded the door shut, or connected a hose from an exhaust to the chimney…..what then? Vostok is Kaput!
It's amazing what concepts fear can design.
retro A-team
Has any human consideration been put into this? If it is just another 'i'm not an artist however i'm going to make a statement' piece, please consider that it looks more hollywood end-of-world than real life warzone. Two thumbs down from me.
Also like to test its indestructibility.
What happens when someone annoying plugs the chimney?
"What happens when someone annoying plugs the chimney?"
Presumably everyone inside eventually asphixiates … which is probably what they get for paying for this piece of junk.
i doubt if it is indestructible, judging by the state of those shotty welds that is.
all it needs is some holes in the floor and it would make an awesome ice fishing shack!
Wow, Throw a bolt through the latch and the "survivors" become prisoners, and quite dead. Good thinking! Just like the Maginot line….
if you think you are better of inside that when the world goes nuts, then good luck. I'd prefer stealthy running to the "turtle in a shell" approach
Interesting, but what if somebody padlocks it while you are cowering inside?
I'd like to bury it next to my foundation and dig a small tunnel from my basement and grow some plants…
Uhhhh, shelter from very little. Rain maybe. If someone wants in… simply add wood, ignite, apply more wood… wait. Someone will be coming out.
Terrible design! The hinges are on the outside where someone can take their time working on them. The stove pipe better have a blast screen in it, or someone can just toss a grande in there. Better throw in tear gas and cap it. And that's just at a glance. It also looks very roll-able, with a toilet and stove in there that's not something you want. Even as a likely to be symbolic design, this is a total fail.
When I first saw it, I had a flashback of the very brief period I spent riding in the back of a Soviet-made armored personnel carrier run by the Georgians when they were in Iraq. Then I looked at the welds, the finish, everything else.
What a joyless and despondent thing this fellow's gone and made. Even the photo of the human inside accentuates the despondency.
The designer says, "This ideological society offers choice; are we able to find alternate ways of living, another model or are our days counted?"
His choice is obvious in creating this thing.
It looks like where you go to die.
LOL! I’ll just push a potato into the chimney and who is indestructible then?