A futuristic mountain pod - or the Refuge Barrel (Refuge Tonneau), as it was originally called- designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1938 has been authentically reconstructed by Cassina.
Mountain lover and designer Charlotte Perriand first imagined the mobile refuge in 1936 and in 1938 she and the designer she often worked with, Pierre Jeanneret, developed it for his space at the Design Village at the Furniture Fair.
above: a maquette of the original Refuge Barrel
above: Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret with Corbusier
The dodecahedral pod, originally designed for Mountain Alps, has an aluminum exterior and a fir wooden interior. Purposely designed to be both lightweight and sturdy, the prefab structure sits on stilts which provide good stability, even on the roughest and steep terrain. The central pole has twelve spokes at the top giving it an umbrella like ceiling.
The stove is located in the central pipe and warms the entire pod:
The structure is divided into a ground floor with four single beds and a loft with two double beds, capable of sleeping up to eight people:
The beds on the ground floor, inspired by railroad cars of the time, fold up with leather straps:
The tiny kitchen has a wooden worktop in which a stainless steel sink is placed to melt snow:
In addition, there are special containers for food staples, a shelf for a small camp stove, a table on which maps of the area are laminated and a storage room for backpacks and ski storage.
Cassina has faithfully reproduced the pod on the basis of original drawings, notes or parts already made by Perriand in other housing projects.
above image, courtesy of Designboom
With this reconstruction, Cassina allows anyone to enter the interior of this visionary structure, otherwise doomed to oblivion.
Images courtesy of Cassina and Dwell