Architecture of the Duo
Chu Chi Concept; The Elusive Shelter
Tutor: Gladys Masey
There are over 100,000 asylum applications received a year in the United Kingdom, with only 12% being considered legitimate, the remaining 78% are forgotten about and left to suffer the fate they're trying to escape.
With this amount being refused into the UK, the number of cases of illegal immigration across the border is increasing every year.
One of the many methods of illegally crossing the border included using the channel tunnel from Calais to Kent as a direct route to freedom and with this knowledge I plan to create a halfway house situated close to the channel tunnel terminal in Folkestone, Kent hidden within the surrounding landscape.
The concept is based on the 3 fundamentals of the Chu Chi tunnels used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam
war.
The Decoy - Disguise, camouflage and deter the enemy.
The Access - Concealed entry route.
The Survival - Sustainable living
The Decoy; Dry stone walls camouflage into surrounding landscape.
Access; Dry stone walls act as a double faced climbing wall
Descent; South wall, north wall removed from view
Section revealing stiles between the two walls
Specific Route; Order amongst randomly placed stiles provide a route down
Survival; Sustainable food sources
Sprouting seeds; High Alfalfa protein content with minimum daylight requirement
Mushroom logs; Minimum daylight requirement
Water Collection; Water gathered at the base of the two walls, used for drinking and watering crops
Section cut showing the decoy, access and shelter.
Sectional plan of the shelter in relation to water collection
