Like a rolling stone: Tiny Alpine cabin resembles an oversized rock

Here's an example of small living that's a little different from the norm. What appears on first glance to be a large boulder is actually a tiny cabin that contains all the basics you'd need for a short stay in the mountains. The cabin is the work of Swiss architecture firm Bureau A, and was recently installed in a sculpture park in the Swiss Alps.

Bureau A tells us that the inspiration for the unusual project came from Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz. His novel Derborence features a protagonist, Antoine, that survives a rock fall and spends seven weeks living buried beneath the rubble before his escape – thus the tiny cabin's name, Antoine.

The shelter is built from wood and encased in a concrete shell that's broken only by a single window, skylight, and door. Antoine is reasonably well kitted-out, and contains a wood burner, plus some basic fold-down panels that serve as table, bed, and seating. There's no toilet though, and you'd want to be careful when venturing outside to take care of business, as Bureau A reports that the shelter is installed in a very precarious spot.

The project was created to host visiting artists and built by hand in a nearby mountain village. The video below shows it being transported to location by truck.

Source: Bureau A