ARC3207H
Instructor: Yusuke Obuchi

Nomadology in Making refers to the practice of creating a place to spend the night using readily available materials rather than staying in a building. While it may evoke the image of a homeless tent on the street, which is not excluded from our studies, the goal of Nomadology in Making is to explore the potential and possibilities of nomadic living in a contemporary context.

The main focus of this seminar is to design and build an igloo, a traditional mobile dwelling known among the Inuit peoples of Northern Canada and the Arctic region. Constructed by stacking blocks of compacted snow into a dome shape, the igloo differs from tents, which require multiple prefabricated materials. Instead, the igloo uses locally sourced compacted snow as its sole building material. Once abandoned, it naturally melts back into water, making it an environmentally sustainable example of circular economy.

As a snow-block structure, the igloo is highly sensitive to environmental conditions, responding directly to changes in temperature. This seminar will synthesize environmental challenges with structural and spatial possibilities through full-scale digital fabrication.

We will use the available fabrication tools, equipment, and software at Daniels to design, develop and construct a full-scale igloo, initially with non-snow materials and then with snow (location to be confirmed). Additionally, though not confirmed, there may be an opportunity to test our first version of the igloo at Togari Onsen Ski Resort in Iiyama City, Nagano Prefecture in Japan.