The project Portable Igloo is a trekking cabin for the polar region where snow stays throughout a year. The trekking cabin consists of basic portable materials to build armature and uses snow as a main building material which yields heat energy released toward indoor space, performing the same mechanism as igloo. The phenomena not only arouses the image of Iceland, but also generates natural energy for people to stay in the cabin warmer. Inspired by the phenomena, the project proposes how the cabin generates energy and be able to be built relatively easily using snow as a building material. Overall process of building the trekking cabin could be similar to building a tent. Trekkers can pull folded poles and ETFE from the bag, and start to assemble poles to make an overall structure. ETFE can cover the pole structure, and snow can be added to the surface.  When trekkers body heat melts snow that is on the surface of an ETFE, it becomes water, and releases heating energy toward the inside of the cabin.

Highlights 

(Awards | Exhibitions | Publications)

• Winner, Honorable Mention at Red Dot Award Design Concept 2017, Red Dot

• Red Dot Award Design Concept Exhibition, Red Dot Design Museum, Singapore

• Red Dot Concept Yearbook 2017/2018, "Portable Igloo" by Joongho Lee (ISNN N/A), 2017