First Place Winner of the “Volume Zero 2022 - Extreme Habitats Competition”
in collaboration with Jordan Lutren
in collaboration with Jordan Lutren
“For millennia our ancestors gathered around their campfires and homely hearths, whose crackling flames and radiating warmth gifted comfort and wonder. Its influence shaped our evolution, its links to human psychology and wellbeing run deep. The Hearth Observatory seeks to explore this relationship, between human and flame, in a natural setting at the extremes of habitation.
In a volcanic crater on Ambrym Island, cantilevering over the lava lake near its mountainous peak, sits The Hearth Observatory. This off-grid habitation lands on a minimal footprint and invites occupants to connect with Earth’s fiery heart, bubbling up from deep below. Responding to its surroundings, the structure’s enclosure consists of a ceramic heatshield and cooling thermosiphon system. This is tapped for passive energy, while mitigating extreme heat and allowing one to live freely in a location hostile to life. At one end, facing down into the burning maelstrom, a single oculus establishes a powerful and unique relationship: a comfortable interior space juxtaposing the extreme environment raging outside. Looking through this aperture, a molten vista dances, with waves of heat and light kissing one’s skin and painting the walls. The interaction is melodic, the observer entranced, echoing the hearths of our past.”
Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, architectural designer
design by Jordan Lutren and Waylon Richmond
design by Jordan Lutren and Waylon Richmond