Emmy Polkamp, a graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, has created a unique concept for travelling hotel tents that can be used to create accommodation in abandoned structures. So whilst you might all have balked at the idea of camping indoors before, prepare to have your minds well and truly blown. Designed as a resting place for festival patrons or visitors to events, the “To Many Place” tents offer single or double rooms that can be easily assembled inside disused buildings, and offer surprisingly comfortable accommodation. The concept is more than just a way of keeping festival-goers cosy though, Polkamp also started the project to raise awareness of the potential many empty buildings still possess, and provide an alternative to traditional hotel accommodation.
Emmy Polkamp has created a unique concept for travelling hotel tents that can be used to create accommodation in abandoned structures
The “Nomadic hotels” (because “Tent” apparently sounds a little too ghetto) have been designed to easily connect with existing cultural events, and in neutral colours, so that they could potentially match any environment. The side of each one features a large room number, and the entire frame and material can be packed down to fit into boxes that are used to form the base of the bed. These can also double as luggage storage space when the room is in use. The tents are designed to be accompanied by communal kitchens that would aim to replicate the social aspect of camping. Each guest would have their own storage drawer, which would also contain a recipe card to contribute to a group meal. They truly are ingeniously designed pieces of kit. We want one!
To Many Places
The “Nomadic hotels” have been designed to easily connect with existing cultural events, and in neutral colours, so that they could potentially match any environment
Emmy Polkamp said: “The idea for a travelling hotel originated when I was in Slovenia last year. There I slept in a hotel that was located in a beautiful anti-squat building, but the owner told me he had to stop the hotel because he could no longer make use of this location. Then the idea for a hotel that travels from one spot to the other popped up in my mind. Because you don't have to stay in one city with your hotel, you can re-use empty buildings and give them a new purpose instead of having them empty. Camping in the middle of the city without having to bring your own tent, able to use the building as your own living environment but also sharing spaces with other guest, that is one unique experience.” She also added that she intends to organise activities around the places the tents are located in, involving local initiatives and caterers to set up events such as outdoor cinemas or concerts.
The designer is currently raising money through the Dutch crowd-funding site Crowdabout to construct six further tents
The designer is currently raising money through the Dutch crowd-funding site Crowdabout to construct six further tents. She also intends to develop temporary structures that can house larger numbers of people, as well as rooftop tents. The project was most recently displayed at the Design Academy Eindhoven graduate exhibition, which took place during Dutch Design Week from 17 to 25 October 2015. Other graduate work on show included Bastiaan de Nennie's surreal digital creations created with 3D scanning, and Vera de Pont's Pop Up collection of garments that can be cut out and assembled as one piece by the wearer.
