Balise (Beacon in English) is a nomadic homeless shelter, wich adapt itself to various contexts thanks to the indepandency of its components
Summer 2014, the association called PEROU, fi ghting against homelessness, launched an open call for idea asking for the design of a nomadic shelter, that could turn vacant yards into welcoming places The shelter has to be nomadic, because no vacant yard stayed longer before construction in Paris, but still there are always, site that are temporary empty and could welcome the shelter. The Balise project is our proposal for this open call. Playing on oppositions like comfort and instability, the hidden shelter and the bright signal : Balise is a place to receive help but also a space for exchange that preserved intimacy when its needed.
_A family of spaces : The two housing types « Solo » & « Duo » are familiar constructions their interiors are composed of one single piece of furniture containing the prinicpals fonctions of the house, : a bed, a table, a washbasin, some storage, . The projects is inspired by familiar shapes like a stool or a cupboard, and by the archetypal shape of a house. This collection of shapes with various use completes and respect each other to form : housing for one or two people, a large common spaces to eat, to share and to learn. A workshop to work, or to learn how to work to re-invent oneself, a sauna to heal or to recover, etc.
_A steady and autonomous shelter : Balise, is a place of freedom and rest, it offers comfort and stability. But the components of the project, forming a set of « architectural furnitures » , are nomadic structures, their position in a specifi c site are temporary. Those independant components are connected by a last one : the footpath. This link, physical and conceptual , inbetween the different elements of the project, it distribute every part of the program and gives to Balise its versatility, and allows it to adpat to various sites and confi gurations. The footpaht is easy to set up, and become the path for users and ihnabitants of the whole project but alos a technical mean to electricity and water out of the ground to each part of the shelter.
_The Balise (Beacon) a signal that last : Balise (Beacon) is a signal that warns the traveler of its presence, but also the access to an harbor. Here its a lighttower which is the signal but also the remaining object of the shelter on the site. In fact the lighttower will be left on the site each time the project as to move from a vacant yard to another. It will be the only remaining object on the site, with written on it where is the last location of the shelter.
