For a mountain biker, the place where you start your run shouldn’t really matter. But this transparent, fabric-enmeshed cycling pavilion is the kind of place you might find yourself wanting to hang around in.
The 28sqm platform is perched above Chile’s Central Valley, a broad piece of verdant green that’s sandwiched on either side by the coastal range and Pacific Ocean to the west and the Andes to the east. As you might expect, some bonkers mountain biking is to be found there — and the country is trying to boost its foreign tourism with it.
Cyclists and hikers are welcome to use the shack for storage — there’s a hanging bike wrack — or for sleeping inside (there’s also room for sleeping bags). An on-site power generator runs on pedaling friction, which in turn powers a set of LEDs for night lighting and a solar-heated shower above the pavilion’s steel frame.
All this, in only 28sqm — and, amazingly, built for only $US9500.
It’s a pretty amazing project — and, even more amazing, it was built as a final thesis project of an architecture student named Rodrigo Cáceres Céspedes. Wonder if he’d ever consider prefabricating them as treehouses? [ArchDaily]