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Cloud-Like Form With ETFE Membranes Embraces Latvian Landscape

Author:
Leonardo Ronchi
Cloud-Like Form With ETFE Membranes Embraces Latvian Landscape

Project in-detail

With a cloud-like form constructed from ETFE membranes, the design integrates into the Latvian landscape while providing adaptable spaces for community wellness and exhibition.
5 key facts about this project
01
The structure mimics the form of a cloud, enhancing the connection between architecture and nature.
02
ETFE membranes allow for high light transmission while maintaining energy efficiency.
03
The design incorporates a rocky flooring that connects indoor and outdoor environments.
04
Reversed landscape logic enables the formation of small water features within the design.
05
The building evolves across three levels, allowing for continuous adaptation over time.

The design presents a thoughtful exploration of the Latvian landscape, marked by vast forests and unique atmospheric formations such as stratocumulus clouds. Set in this rich environment, the building connects closely with nature. The concept illustrates a cloud that interacts with the structure itself, creating a unique experience for its users. This relationship enhances the sense of place and brings the outside world into the interior.

Architectural Concept

The layout is organized across three levels, allowing for ongoing flexibility and adaptation for users over time. This adaptability is crucial, enabling the space to respond to various social needs and interactions. The building acts as a spatial tool, maintaining a dialogue between the sky and earth. It is a thoughtful response to its surroundings, where the natural elements influence the design and usage of the space.

Spatial Organization

Inside the building, spaces are arranged in a way that creates a clear hierarchy of functions while ensuring that different areas remain connected. This layout supports both social gatherings and private contemplation. Notably, the rocky floor in the exhibition spaces and sauna pools aligns with the intention of blending indoor and outdoor environments. This connection deepens the metaphor of the cloud, creating an atmosphere that encourages users to engage with nature.

Environmental Integration

The design incorporates ideas of reversed landscape logic, resulting in hills and depressions that can host small lakes. These water features enhance the immersive experience, allowing users to feel the connection to nature while inside the building. This innovative approach blurs the line between the architecture and the natural world, inviting users to engage with the landscape through its reflection and movement.

Materials and Sustainability

The design features fully recycled or recyclable materials, including aluminum foam, anodized aluminum, and polymeric materials like ETFE membranes. These materials are selected for their ability to ensure energy efficiency and adequate lighting. They contribute to the overall experience, with the interaction of these materials creating a caustic effect in the living areas. This reinforces the central theme of being wrapped in a cloud, giving depth to the concept and adding to the sensory quality of the space.

Reflective surfaces within the interior echo the landscape's natural attributes, fostering an experience that links the built environment with the qualities of the sky. This attention to detail creates a rich interaction between the architecture and its setting, enhancing the overall user experience.

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MICROHOME 10: Celebrating Small-Scale Living with €100,000 Prize Fund and Kingspan’s Innovation

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Competition organisers

The MICROHOME 10 competition invites participants to submit visionary designs for off-grid, modular microhomes that push the limits of sustainable, small-scale living. Organised by Buildner in partnership with Kingspan and Hapi Homes, this tenth edition sets the challenge of designing a dwelling for two people within a maximum floor area of 25 m², encouraging bold solutions adaptable to any urban or rural location. The competition continues Buildner’s mission to foster innovative approaches to compact, energy-efficient housing that can address pressing global challenges.

This year’s edition offers a generous total prize fund of €100,000, including the Kingspan Award for designs that integrate high-performance Kingspan products and the Hapi Homes Award for a project selected for real-world construction. In addition to cash prizes, the winners gain international exposure through Buildner’s media partnerships, publications, and a dedicated MICROHOME magazine, further amplifying their ideas to the wider architectural community.

Key dates for MICROHOME 10 include the closing date for registration on 25 September 2025, the submission deadline on 29 October 2025 (11:59 p.m. London time), and the announcement of winners on 9 December 2025. These milestones ensure participants have clear timelines to develop and present their concepts, with early registration discounts available to support students and emerging designers worldwide.

MICROHOME

Design a new small-scale home concept in the 10th edition of MICROHOME — 100,000 € prize + construction

100,000 € Prize Fund / Kingpsan Edition #10 ideas COMPETITION
Prize 100,000 € + Potential realisation
Eligibility Open to all
Final registration deadline 25 September 2025

Enter an open architecture
competition now

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