Fall 2023
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Antarctica
Group Project with Jacob Chung, Qrin Park

Many remember summer for its gentle breezes, vibrant laughter, and serene luminescence. We find freedom in languid afternoons spent under the sun, in the taste of watermelon that drips down your chin, and in the nostalgia of barefoot adventures.
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Yet for some, summer has an exceptionally unique definition—near polar extremes, it is shy and fleeting but so remarkably precious. The spectacle of 24-hour daylight is paradoxically one that cannot be enjoyed without thick layers. And capsule-like dormitories at research stations make the tacit assertion of a necessarily clinical and foreign landscape.
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How can we bring a special interpretation of summer to a place of perpetual winter? If summer is the invitation to shed layers, can a living structure itself change clothes, moods and lifestyles? Against restrictive environments, we propose a space of limitless possibility for any living condition. To the opposing aims of domestic comfort and a candid confrontation with nature, we create a double skin, revealing architecture and conditioning systems as mediators for light, temperature, and survival. A thermal buffer zone between nested glass volumes provides space for changing temperatures and new activities, such as taking a hot bath with a snowy backdrop. An operable insulation layer can open to reveal a panoramic view, and close to reduce heating load, but critically also creates an artificial night in a region of eternal day. When architecture blends indoor and outdoor, it brings comfort for researchers, invites visitors to a new summer experience, and proves for everyone else that summer can happen anywhere.