On the occasion of the Milan Design Week 2019, architect Beatrice Bonzanigo of IB Studio will present the adaptable Casa Ojalá, a transportable 27 square-meters home with multiple interior solutions working in synchrony without ever changing the original structure and shape. Casa Ojalá develops from a manual mechanical system composed of ropes, pulleys and cranks, bringing the guest back to the memory of a journey on a sailboat pushed by the wind. The traditions of its context are displayed through local wood and textiles to highlight its distinctive and aesthetic adaptability while remaining a formally recognizable, globally marketable object.
Casa Ojalá has two bedrooms, one with a double bed and one with a single bed, a bathroom, a terrace, a kitchenette and a living room, which can be continuously transformed into one another or become a large outdoor platform, a house with no roof or even no floor. The flexibility of the space is made possible thanks to the innovative solution of sliding walls, in Wood-Skin and fabric, which are rolled up on posts placed at the edge of the circumference and in the center of the structure.
There are approximately twenty options available to increase the flexibility of Casa Ojalá, making it a fully customizable product. Once assembled, the house is based on its manual mechanical system and does not need any external assistance, neither human nor technological. Casa Ojalá includes a rainwater collection system, can be equipped with photovoltaic panels and features a small septic tank.
“Ojalá” (o-ha-lá, from ancient Spanish oxalá, Arabic wašāʾa llāh) is a word that summarizes the concept of infinite possibilities, hopes related to emptiness and absence, intuition, a key of a door not yet open, a new field of existence, a telescope that brings together and moves horizons, a space of different possibilities and, therefore, a wish that comes true. The patent, entitled ‘Residential Building With High Flexibility,’ will be presented as a 1:10 scale model at Milan Design Week from April 9th to 14th.
