A remarkable new glass shelter will offer mountaineers protection from high-altitude dangers.
The structure has been developed by designers in preparation for the 2026 Winter Olympics, where it will be displayed in Milan before being transported by helicopter to its final Alpine destination.
The striking bivouac is the creation of Italian design company CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, working alongside Salone del Mobile.Milano. Built to blend seamlessly with the Alpine environment, its development started with a 3D scan of regional rock formations.
Carlo Ratti, co-founder of CRA, explained: “Unfortunately, today bivouacs often look like airships that have landed on our beautiful alpine landscapes. Here we took the opposite approach: a structure that blends as much as possible with the surroundings.”
According to CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, the final design reduces visual disruption whilst maximising practicality – featuring energy generation, storage capabilities, and water collection through atmospheric condensation.
Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.Milano, said: “It is a gesture that turns research into a form of harmony with the natural world and that, in its journey from our Milan to the Alps, expresses the principles we share: a circular, responsible design.”
Carlo Ratti continued: “Great 20th-century Italian architect Gio Ponti once said that architecture is ‘like a crystal’. We took that literally in this design, using digital fabrication to design a bivouac as if it were part of the natural rock formations that shape the Alps.”