UpNorthica

We all have our favorite tents, whose designers have that first-hand knowledge of what makes a good tent. But who’s better-suited to make these temporary housing structures: Outdoorsy gear-designers, or disciplined architects?

We found an interesting discussion here, on where architecture does and doesn’t, should and shouldn’t, cross over into the design of tents and alpine porta-ledges.

While tent design seems a natural fit for, say, the pre-fab/modular school of architecture, I can’t finger any indicators that today’s tent designers aren’t on the right track. Year to year, by what do we measure value in the tents we compare? By a keen focus on function over form, by use of more advanced but lightweight materials and more recently, the products’ long-term environmental footprint. These are the things we demand, and for the most part, the manufacturers deliver. After all, most of them are campers, too, so naturally they’ll always have an ear to the ground on how to improve. I have few complaints.

The aforementioned post puts forth a worthy challenge:

Rather than design camping gear, then, they should design with camping gear, filling private homes and office high-rises with unexpected tent-like rooms and rapidly deployed nylon conference facilities.

I’ll go further still and issue a similar challenge; that tent-designers should look at their own work and envision a wider range of solutions, for example in global relief efforts. Like building amphibious tents that would float in flood zones. Or modular tents whose single units could mate together (like some sleeping bags), easily adapting to provide communal shelter. Maybe a tent that also collects rainwater.

In any case, the more players in this game, the better it can only get.