If you can reach this futuristic hotel pod imbedded in the side of a mountain, your reward is a quiet resting space that you can customize to create a relaxing, meditative environment tailored to your whims. Designed for rock climbers, the Hanging Hotel concept by Dr. Margot Krasojevic was designed for Holden Manz Wine Estate Cape Town in Massif de L’Esterel in the South of France.
This ‘suspended campsite’ is a system of pods and platforms attached to the granite through borehole foundations injected into the rock face. The platforms on the exterior offer additional climbing surfaces, and places to rest while getting closer to the entrance.
Made of steel horizontal piles, columns and frames as well as plywood paneling, a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer shell and a wooden walkway, the Hanging Hotel clings to the rock face in seemingly precarious fashion, looking a bit like an artificial parasite.
Once inside, climbers can access what Krasojevic deems “the most important ingredient to this mix of materials” – a holographic filtered compound glass and prism louver system that alters the look and feel of the interior by adjusting the light level inside, reducing glare and producing shimmering colored light effects on the interior walls.
This orchestrated surreality takes advantage of climbers’ exhaustion and the physical effects of altitude to help them disassociate from the reality of the present moment for enhanced rest and recovery. “It can also ‘tune climbers in’ to the reality of the environment by creating a hyperawareness about the nuances of light that our vision may not be accustomed to seeing,” explains the designer.
