New glass shelter blends right into the rocks of mountain

By Dean Murray

An incredible new glasshouse will let mountaineers shelter from high-altitude perils.

Designers have created the camp ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, where it will be showcased in Milan before being airlifted to its permanent location in the Alps.

The eye-catching bivouac is the brainchild of Italian design firm CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with Salone del Mobile Milano.

Designed to harmonize with the Alpine landscape, its creation began with a 3D scan of rock formations in the region.

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Carlo Ratti, co-founder of CRA, said: "Unfortunately, today bivouacs often look like airships that have landed on our beautiful alpine landscapes.

"Here we took the opposite approach: a structure that blends as much as possible with the surroundings."

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati says the resulting design minimises visual impact while maximising functionality – incorporating energy production, storage, and water harvesting through air condensation.

Maria Porro, President of Salone del Mobile Milano, said: "It is a gesture that turns research into a form of harmony with the natural world and that, in its journey from our Milan to the Alps, expresses the principles we share: a circular, responsible design."

Carlo Ratti adds: "Great 20th-century Italian architect Gio Ponti once said that architecture is ‘like a crystal’. We took that literally in this design, using digital fabrication to design a bivouac as if it were part of the natural rock formations that shape the Alps."