review: Extreme Architecture: Building for Challenging Environments by Ruth Slavid

Extreme Architecture: Building for Challenging Environments by Ruth Slavid

Extreme Architecture: Building for Challenging Environments
by Ruth Slavid
(Laurence King) £26

Like a space age camel train relocated from the desert to the equally extreme environment of Antartica, Hugh Broughton’s stunning Halley VI Antartic Research Station, the cover star of Extreme Architecture, appears to be merely taking a momentary rest in its journey, rather than laying down permanent foundations. But then this is key to its design; the Halley sits on the Brunt Ice Shelf which moves at 400 metres-a-year towards the sea. This is the sixth to be built since 1952, but one of the key innovations of Broughton’s design is that its modules, which sit on giant skis, are easily relocatable, which gives the building a lifespan of 20 years, at least twice that of its predecessors.

The animistic quality of the line of modules coupled with their vivid colour (the social module is red and the other six are blue) not only help imbue the structure with a benign and welcoming quality, but also mean that the Halley becomes a beacon in a featureless landscape that on an overcast day can be completely devoid of colour.

Following a conversation between Ruth Slavid and Hugh Broughton about his work, his inspiring example of extreme architecture was also the trigger inspiration for this fascinating and equally inspiring book. Across five sections, Hot, Cold, High, Wet, and Space, the book presents 45 case studies of designs which though extreme today, particularly in the face of climate change and population growth may well become prerequisites of tomorrow.

Extreme Architecture has a wealth of photographs, drawings, site plans, and the nice addition of a fact box listing the height above (or below!) sea water (or the earth come to that!), rainfall, and temperature attendant to the location of each design. All of which, including the rather fabulous and brain shaking Virgin Galatic Spaceport (Norman Foster), Seaorbiter (Jacques Rougerie), and Manned Cloud (Studio Massaud), staggeringly demonstrate that tomorrow is only an hair’s breadth away.
Guy Sangster Adams

Above: Delta Shelter, USA. Photograph: Tim Bies. Above right: Ski box and chalet, Chile. Photograph: Max Nunez