Construction Material Technology Platform
Professors: Michelle Howard and Luciano Parodi
Studio Interstitial Warming 
Part 2: Prototype


Group Project with Marina Resch
Studio Brief of this project is clarified in the previous project, Turtle Case Study: pelomedusa subrufa

Using the knowledge gained through the careful study and reconstruction through modelling in unit 1, Groups of 2 or 3 students constructed a 1:1 prototype which respond to the following: generate a heat difference of 10 degrees, permit a person to retreat into and partly emerge from it in order to move, have a surface of approximately 5m² and , lastly, comment on the concept of comfort.

After investigating and building turtles, we`ve got inspiration for The Garonion from the qualities of our built turtles, such as the semi-stiffness and moving of the limbs from the eretmochelys imbricata model, and the way you can strip the model and take the inside structure  out is from the pelomedusa subrufa.
We were interested in making something soft and floppy, which can also be able to stand upright and gain a certain stiffness just with the way we sew the materials together. We chose sheep felt (for stiffness) and sheep wool (for isolation), cotton flannel (for covering and haptic) and leather (for protection) as main materials, for gaining the required heat increment using only natural materials.
Our purpose is to achieve a space, in which the user can focus on his/her immediate environment and listen to the inner self with reduced distractions. He/she can decide when to open, how much to open, who to let in, or to open up completely and have a comfortable seating place for more people - to have the control of the moment.
Link to Academy's Website about the project
Here is a video of the production:
All pictures and videos are taken by Marina Resch and Iklim Dogan.