Tana delle Marmotte
The Tana delle Marmotte is a permanent underground installation built at the Pavillon intermediate station, at an altitude of 2,173 metres. Conceived as an experiential space for children and teenagers, the project combines play with educational content through a minimal architecture integrated into the Alpine landscape. The route unfolds inside three large Corten steel conduits, which house a fit-out made entirely of timber. It evokes the underground burrows of marmots and recreates their habitat as an architectural narrative.
The interiors are lined with a sequence of spruce panels, shaped horizontally to create a soft, layered interior volume inspired by the tunnels that marmots dig into the ground for shelter and winter hibernation. The timber surfaces serve multiple functions (seating, graphic supports, display cases, mounts for multimedia educational devices) within a coherent, organic spatial continuum. Along the route, graphics and illustrated content tell the marmot's life cycle, from hibernation to spring emergence. A staircase carved directly out of the curves of the timber leads to a secondary tunnel, which gives access to a small transparent porthole and allows children to "emerge" outdoors, simulating the animal's appearance at the surface.
Great attention was paid to environmental impact and construction methods. The structure was entirely prefabricated and dry-assembled. All the materials used (steel, Corten and timber) are recyclable and easy to dispose of. The lighting system follows the same logic as the project: an LED strip on the ceiling traces the soft lines of the fit-out and guides visitors along the route.
The result is a small architectural device that turns an educational experience into a coherent narrative space, where scale, material and storytelling come together naturally. The Marmot Den is a light yet carefully crafted intervention, one that establishes a direct connection with the landscape and its audience, without rhetoric.
Structure
The structure is made of Corten steel pipes of different diameters: a main conduit 8,000 mm long and two transverse access conduits, installed on the downhill side, with diameters of 2,200 and 1,300 mm. They are laid on fine gravel, without foundations. An easily accessible emergency exit is provided. The project was drawn up in compliance with Italian Law 13/1989 as amended and its implementing regulation, Ministerial Decree 236/1989, and therefore achieves the required level of accessibility. The main entrance is 80 cm wide and is reached by a removable metal ramp of suitable gradient. It leads to the central area, 160 cm wide, where all the play and educational devices are located and can be used.
The Corten steel tubes are joined by flanged connections to facilitate transport and on-site assembly. The welding was carried out by a company certified to EN 1090-1:2009+A1:2011. Thanks to its construction method, the installation is fully reversible and requires no complex works.
Interior fit-out
The interior spaces were fitted out with shaped plywood ribs (three-ply spruce, 40 mm thick), anchored to perimeter timber rings that follow the circumference of the tubes of the main Corten steel structure. The gaps between one rib and the next are infilled with square-edged spruce tongue-and-groove boarding (with no visible chamfers). The ribs are shaped to follow the irregular form inspired by the tunnels dug by marmots and serve different functions: in some cases they become seating for children, in others a small stair leading to the skylight. Two openable display cases with transparent Plexiglas closures are integrated into the lining and follow, at the front, the curve of the adjacent ribs. The physical route is enriched by a number of devices, such as a timeline of the marmots' life from autumn to spring and charts showing average monthly temperatures at altitude.
Prefabrication
To limit the environmental impact of the installation as far as possible, several approaches were evaluated, all based on dry-assembly technologies that can be produced in the workshop. Dry assembly optimised the construction phase, greatly reducing on-site working time and keeping to a minimum the need for fixed construction sites with equipment and workers at altitude.
The main Corten steel structure and the timber ribs were produced in the workshop and then transported to altitude, where they were assembled. The workshop phase paid particular attention to the weight of the materials, so that they could be easily transported to the site by helicopter.
CREDITS
Architectural design: Officina 82 - Fabio Revetria, Lara Sappa
Structural design: IngeMBP - Corrado Curti
Geologist: Paolo Zamparutti
Metalwork: Nuova Sicmi
Interior design: Studio Arredi
MEP Engineering: CED Impianti Group
