Who are we?

Where do we come from?

Why do we live in these houses?

What would my ancestors have done?

When can we live like who we really are?

Where should we settle, or rather, do we have to settle at all?

This project proposes a temporary living solution to the Inuit people in Northern Quebec, and it is prototypical housing design to be applied to the Nordic environment. Reacting to the postwar housing architecture disturbed by the Canadian government, this design tries to eradicate the imposing colonial belief of “settlement”, and seeks an architectural answer from the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Inuits. The architecture is driven from the sense of temporality and mobility of the people, who move around depending on where the game is. Inspired by traditional igloo, mobile hot air balloon, and vernacular tepee, the design utilizes minimum resources, with readily-disposed materials such as 6×6 wooden planks, wood sheathings, and canvas; with a simple manual, people can easily construct and erect the structure, and slowly turn it into a more permanent home as they start to partition the spaces depending on their needs, and decorate the envelope with their fabric art and animal skin. With the only energy consumption of fire, the structure is self-sustained with water harvesting and wind shielding; the home is to be recycled and reused, as it can be easily disassembled and reconstructed in the net destination.

The project is anti the southern planning method, and reinforces an organic growth in nordic villages.

Entry video can be found here.

(a competition entry to CCA Charrette 2016. collaborated with Rita Wei, 2016 fall)