We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Beatrice Bonzanigo about their original and creative Highly Flexible House design work. Beatrice Bonzanigo is an award-winning architectural designer, that makes our world a better place with their original highly flexible house works.
Beatrice Bonzanigo ("BB") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Casa Ojala Highly Flexible House. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
BB : I’ve been traveling frequently to South America in the past years, as I felt I needed some fresh inspiration by in nite lands and a younger approach to contemporary architecture. Italian bureaucracy sometimes is too much for an architect. Visiting Argentinian, Chilean, and Uruguayan beautiful and still very untouched lands, I found out that hospitality for travelers is very limited and localized. It was a pity to go back to centralized structures – even if in beautiful hotels – after a day on horseback or by jeep, full of dust and savage nature. It was a pity not being able to experience those wonders more, few days in a row, day and night, to really get in contact with the unlimited inspiration that those in nite spaces and sky can give.
BB : Sometimes I want to look at the Andes having an hot bath; sometimes I would love to be surrounded by traditional and perfumed textiles while I looked at the stars next to a replace and nothing else; sometimes I want to share all this with one or two friends; sometimes I need a wardrobe even if I’m the middle of a desert; sometimes the wind bothers me while I'm reading next to the ocean; sometimes I want to be touched by the wind fancing a swing under some wooden shades; sometimes I want to experience from my bed 360° of planet earth with no boundaries in between. And in the meantime, I love to feel good comfort, safe, at home. What about a new architecture that could speak about those feelings and that could fully transmit the feeling of utter freedom that these endless lands convey? the outdoor about? How to truly inhabiting nature without infringing it, and yet without renouncing the rest and pampering one may end in a hotel? What architectural structure could I make disappear on request? How could I satisfy the thirsty eye without constraining its views in an artificial frame? What could be self-sufficient enough to function in isolated spots? How to make its host part of nature and safe at home in the meantime? What is that travelers are really looking for? So, I started thinking about a very flexible little house. Then the idea of a small space with literally in nite possibilities came about.
BB : I am planning to start its production.
BB : A lot of thinking, and one day of drawing.
BB : I received important inspiration by three special friends in Argentina.
BB : I am studying different options, I am open to lease the production rights as well as produce it by myself with some consultant and partners.
BB : see answer 01.
BB : An Argentinian designer friend, Gustavo Ressio, and teh all team of our firm IB Studio.
BB : Casa Ojala is suitable for different types of inhabitants: families, couples, athletes, travellers, star hunters, artists, philosophers and people looking for new luxury types, people bored by everyday life, curious people, researchers, lovers of the sea, the mountains, lakes and deserts. Casa Ojala is for anybody to enjoy. In my mind it was first developed as a by-product for luxury hotels seeking new solutions for a travel experience and a different life, avoiding construction sites. Casa Ojala can also be offered to private customers with land of any type, vineyards, open countryside, mountains, lagoons, woods, meadows, sand dunes, infinite or uncultivated land.
BB : Demand for minimal and environmentally friendly solutions has considerably grown worldwide in recent years. Today’s market offers a large variety of small architectural solutions for individuals looking for something different to share. Casa Ojala offers something more: its extensive flexibility contained in a very small space, perceived as infinite and alive, is the key that is still missing in the global market.
BB : “Ojalá” (o-ha-lá, from ancient Spanish oxalá, Arabic وَشَاءَ اللّٰه, wašāʾa llāh) is a word that summarizes the concept of infinite possibilities, hopes related to emptiness and absence, intuition, a key of a door not yet open, a new field of existence, a telescope that brings together and moves horizons, a space of different possibilities and, therefore, a wish that comes true.
BB : autocad, revit and photoshop.
BB : Casa Ojala is one thing with its guest. The surprise and the simplicity with which it changes, create a unique experience of a new and palpable life, a new discovery in the world of static architecture. The limited space converts into an infinite home. It is small, it can be disassembled, transported and is not bulky. The architectural limits of forced views, filtered light, controlled air and untouchable canopy are broken, but all the comforts and functions of a home are guaranteed. The home becomes a surprise, a game, a circus, a theatre, fragrances and gestures. The landscape is its façade. Casa Ojala is a sustainable, minimal, compact and flexible product for a new comfort, away from TV or air conditioning. The boundary between inner and outer space no longer exists. Outdoor is a substantial, fundamental and precious part of it.
BB : I collaborated with architects inside my firm IB Studio.
BB : Casa Ojala develops from a manual mechanical system composed of ropes, pulleys and cranks, like sailing boats'. Also, for the sliding wooden walls, which are rolled up on posts placed at the edge of the circumference and in the center of the structure Wood-Skin Mesh Sheets were chosen with a vertical striped pattern. Mesh Sheets offer a new way to design curved, wavy, and free-form surfaces from flat sheets. This game-changing technology unlocks the design potential of rigid surfaces, allowing the construction of elegant membranes with the same look, feel, and functional properties as lighter, more flexible materials like paper or fabric
BB : no, it has not being influenced by analytical research.
BB : Developing the manual mechanical system is not easy. I need to collaborate with engineers for the detailed design phase.
BB : I felt that this project needed attention, as I believe it is a good product that needs any kind of help to be brought to reality.
BB : I learnt that it is always good to follow your heart. And I also know that I will learn a lot during Casa Ojala's production phase.
