It’s a common perception that the campfire is the origin of modern society: When humans learned how to control fire, we gathered around it and started developing language, traditions, and community.
Today campfires still have the power of connecting us to something fundamentally human: They make us sit together and tell each other stories.
The Hunter’s Retreat is a mountain-dwelling inspired by this phenomenon: The building folds around a fireplace creating a small circular atrium. As soon as the fire is lit and the hunters gather around the flames, shadows start dancing on the walls.
The building itself is simply a row of classic A-shaped cabins, each of them equipped with a small stove and two beds. At each end of the row, two public features conclude the circle: A shared sauna and a small living room. The circular retreat is covered in slate stones from the local quarry.
The project was designed in 2015 for a local farmer in the Jotunheimen mountains.
