The Gabion Shelter

M.O.N.A.'s submission for "Gimmee Shelter," from The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. Cross your fingers!


COLLABORATORS
Kevin Derrick, Designer, Project Manager
David Elliott, Landscape Architect
Eileen Tognini, Independent Curator
M.O.N.A., Art and Custom Fabrication Collective

ABSTRACT
It resembles that of a tool shed, or a tiny house in the woods, but upon closer inspection it is the fusion of art and architecture, natural and manmade, function and folly. The materials and methods pays homage to natural and architectural references within the site itself. This structure has its own justification, providing a safe haven for four, ventilation, protection from the elements, and a visual “dictionary” of re-use materials…

The proposed “Gabion Shelter” is the collaboration between a designer, landscape architect and curator, each with his/her own vocabulary, each taking their own cue from the land, the Center’s history, remnants of surviving architecture, and derivatives of creative solutions for a sustainable future.
Gabions, from Italian gabbione meaning “big cage”, are wire cages filled with materials such as sand, rock, soil, primarily used for erosion control and storm water management. These cages have a curiously sensual, primeval quality, like the historic dry stone walls on the site of The Schuylkill Center. The baled materials, a collection of individual fragments capture the feel of non-linearity, the non-repetitive form, while the cages as structures create a pattern that remain visually identical. Their metamorphosis over time with the natural collection of leaves, branches from overhead trees, the host to climbing vines, and even becoming insect and small mammal homes, creating a habitat within habitat.

A curious collection of materials in each gabion, organized by texture, color and so on will serve as an engaging educational opportunity for school children to better understand recycling, re-use and sustainability. Perhaps most importantly, The Gabion Shelter can demonstrate the seamless connection to the land as its relationship to natural growth is fostered and welcomed.

The sloping land orientation, the remnants of a stone wall and the pollywog pond each served as inspiration. Gabion-cages will be curated with content and materials relevant to the natural surrounding as well as the urban environs. Stone, branches, even detritus will fill each cage. Imagine discarded plastic toys, machine parts, recyclable bottles and so on colorfully arranged yet safely contained and made useful as a building material solution.

Each gabion will be constructed using repuposed metal sourced via a local scrap yard. Materials for their filling will be collected from the local community.