The Polish Design Studio http://www.ugo.com.pl/ has outdone itself with its new design proposal dubbed the ‘Barcelona rock’. A cursory glance at their suggested design leaves you absolutely stunned, as the next thought that enters your head is: is it a rock or is it a mountain or is it some new hi-tech innovation?
The correct answer is actually all three. UGO has actually floated this design for, believe it or not, a hostel to be situated in the mountainous outskirts of the Spanish city, Barcelona.
Originally created for the international competition called ‘Bohemian hostel for backpackers’, this structure towers over 100 meters. The hostel building, for it is actually is a building, is made of huge stone blocks about four meters in height that actually compose the building’s exterior façade. The design provides large breathing spaces between these mammoth rock slabs to allow light and air to circulate and penetrate the structure and its numerous rooms.
These slabs provide the building with a kind of stoney and mountainous ridge-like feel and look which helps it camouflage itself into the surrounding landscape. Nestled between the mountains, the hostel also has pockets of lush greenery and bird shelters to ensure that it becomes a natural feature of this historic city.
But it is not just the birds which will be comfortable, backpackers too, shall be able to live life king size here on the edge, quite literally. And it is about time too because for far too long backpackers have being shunned to seedy hotels situated in the underbelly of most of the cities they travel to.
However, their stay in Barcelona promises to be different, with the Barcelona rock offering them a selection of some fifty rooms and loads of amenities such as a swimming pool, spa, gym, cinema, pub and even a small climbing wall for beginners. Advanced climbers can of course scale the structure on a daily basis to get to and from their rooms.
This hostel promises to be not just a symbol for Barcelona, but also a trekkers paradise in the true sense of the word where all backpackers and travellers are truly welcome and looked after.
Source: Designboom
