We know that as a material, concrete is able to authentically approximate the look and feel of natural stone with great success. ‘Antoine’ is a design by Bureau A that takes this a step further with their design for an Alpine shelter that looks like a large boulder.

Thanks to this concrete exterior, Antoine is able to camouflage itself amongst the many rocks scattering its home on the Swiss slopes. Antoine’s interior however reveals a totally different materiality, with a modern interior clad with vibrant wood paneling.

In addition to the wood paneling, the shelter offers a stone table, fold-out benches, chimney and small window. “Antoine creates an Alpine shelter, a precarious ‘Existenzminimum’ somewhat subversive in its use where one can freely enter and hide,” said the designers of Antoine.

Antoine was a commission by the artist residency Verbier 3d Foundation. It was self-built in the village and transported to the high-altitude sculpture park. The 6 weeks residency allowed for the construction of what can be considered an inhabited sculpture that follows the tradition of architecture-sculpture described by artist André Bloc and developed physically by André Bloc and Claude Parent.