The epitomisation of resourcefulness and ingenuity, Picalo Cabin is the result of searching through surplus materials to create with the most modest of budgets.
Created by Wellington-based architect Gerard Dombroski, the cabin was born after the architect visited Driving Creek Railway and Pottery during February 1. A skilled artist and furniture designer, Dombroski worked with DCR on a working bee which led to a month-long residency at the venue in which the architect was to design something from what was lying around the pottery barn.
Dombroski turned into an explorer, rummaging through unused structures for materials that he could use to bring the structure to life. Given that he had a month to create the cabin, the reduced allotted time period paved the way for resourcefulness and operating on instinct.
Upon his first night of residency at the Driving Creek Railway, Dombroski found both a location for the cabin and a forgotten steel frame which gave the architect his footprint and stair recess. The cabin sits underneath a canopy of kanuka trees, and was imagined as a viewing space for the movements of the trees. The first view of the canopy is through the skylight, the second straight across to the canopy, with the roof intersecting between the two viewpoints.
A visit to the local skatepark directly inspired the building’s form. With time being of the essence with Dombroski’s 30th birthday party scheduled for the day after his residency was complete, he put the cabin together across a suite of long days in which he interacted with locals and other artists in residence. A number of people passed on old materials in a bid to help the architect/forager get the cabin completed on schedule.
Resembling a steep multi-dimensional halfpipe, Picalo Cabin is an instinctively designed and wonderful contribution to the DCR. The resourcefulness and wit of Gerard Dombroski is on show just from viewing the structure which features a harmonious cluster of misfit materials.
