Naice Architecture’s ‘hoverbox’ on Baunetz.de

Apr 15

Congratulations NAICE Architecture & Design on the publication of your project ‘Hoverbox’ on Baunetz.de! Well deserved recognition on a unique and fun project!

The article appears in German so I’ve provided a Google translated English version below:

11.04.2019

Hide and seek in Winnipeg

Temporary refuge from NAICE

The annual Warming Huts Festival in Winnipeg, Canada honors the creative engagement with the refuge construction work. Participation is also a matter of honor for art and architecture greats. In recent years, awards have been received by, among others, Anish Kapoor and Frank Gehry. With the Hoverbox, NAICE from Berlin have this winter placed a lightweight construction on the frozen Red River, which protects skaters inside from the cold wind and surprises with a special spatial experience.

The desire for optical illusions already characterizes the outer appearance of the temporary Hoverbox. As a simple, white-painted wooden cube, it almost fuses with the surrounding snowscape - a camouflage pattern reminiscent of the Bureau A refuge. Eight steel struts are draped with garments that pretend to other visitors and obscure their supportive function. So the box seems to float about 70 centimeters above the ground.

In the interior, which can be accessed via two openings, black-painted walls create a labyrinth of corridors and small séparées with seating. Coming from the open open space of the frozen river, the narrowness and confusion in the dimly lit interior surprises - the exploration tour can begin. Narrow holes in the walls lead again and again to unexpected eye contact.

The open plinth zone reverses the game of hide and seek. While you are treading in the dark with a sense of disorientation, your legs are clearly visible from far away. At the same time, the floating walls let light into the interior and prevent the atmosphere from becoming too threatening. Because who wants to get out of the game, just slip through the bottom.

With the small Hoverbox, NAICE has succeeded in creating a room experiment that amuses the spatial experience of narrowness and expansiveness, searching and finding in an amusing way. Incidentally, the temporary project was one of five projects selected in a competition of 200 submissions.

Photos: Lindsay Reid