Ice Lodge: Non-Footprint Architecture at the Mount Everest Basecamp

This project focuses on the implementation of a sustainable, functional, non-footprint Lodge, constructed out of ice and bamboo at the Mount Everest Basecamp. After receiving the KUWI-Scholarship, for scientific research abroad, from TU Vienna, I traveled to Nepal, for 2 months, and hiked up to the Basecamp. After experiencing the Trekking Tour and getting an insight into the logistics and waste management challenges at Mount Everest Basecamp, it became clear that this project requires thinking outside the box. Documenting the Lodges alongside the Trek and conducting interviews with Lodge owners and mountaineers helped to distinguish the demands for this proposition. Using an innovative non-footprint material, to not affect the environment, was the main objective. After analyzing Khumbu Glacier and the climate at the Basecamp the decision to construct a Lodge out of Ice was bound. Ice Experiments, and calculations during the form-finding process, showed that the material can only endure a very low amount of tensile force. A series of chain models, using the catenary curve, formed the base for the final ice shells with solely compressive forces. Hydraulic pressure tests on different ice concoctions exhibited the strength of the materials. The more wooden grain and ecological binding agents were mixed into the water, the higher the amount of compressive force it could deal with. The result of this work is a sustainable, innovative concept aiming to inspire developing new ecological materials aligning to its environmental and climatical situation.