Cheap Thrills

Hoverbox in Winnipeg

Naice Architecture & Design

Warming Huts

The renowned “Warming Huts Festival” takes place every year in Winnipeg, Canada. This is about tempo­rary resting places on the frozen Red River.

In the winter of 2019 the Hoverbox by Naice Archi­tec­ture & Design was one of the cele­brated winners.

Warming up, theoretically

So it’s about warming up on a windy lake, which offers a closed ice surface at least during the exhi­bi­tion period from January to March.

A large white box hovers over the ice; in the box, there a people walk about, bide their time, or seemingly hover over the floor. What is happe­ning?

Warming up, practical

The visitor enters a laby­rinth turned upside down by way of one of the two narrow openings leading inward. Corri­dors snake through the body of the buil­ding and end at benches. The visitor wanders around, opti­cally cut off from the outside world, disori­ented, and only perceives the legs and feet of other visi­tors.

Sudden encoun­ters bring stran­gers toge­ther, secret visual cont­acts through holes in the walls next to the benches invite visi­tors to spy on their surroun­dings, diffi­cult to reco­gnize.

A play invol­ving distance and proxi­mity.

Construction

The object is made of a processed wood mate­rial. Steel supports on which the boxes stand are covered in human clot­hing, giving the impres­sion of being other visi­tors.

The box is black on the inside; on the outside it is painted white.

We did this.

Compa­nies involved & Links

Architects

NAICE archi­tec­ture & design 
GOERZWERK — Goerz­allee 299   
D — 14167  Berlin — Germany

Opening

2019

Text

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
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