Alfons Alcoverro Wins ei! Prize for Sustainable 'Torb' Mountain Refuge Design

Alfons Alcoverro, a 25-year-old from Escaldes-Engordany, has won the ei! Prize from Elisava for his final degree project in Design and Innovation, titled *Torb*. The work, which also reached the finals of the CODIC awards, proposes a sustainable redesign for the Portella refuge in Pas de la Casa at 2,265 metres altitude.

Alcoverro draws inspiration from the *torb* mountain wind—beautiful yet warning-like—to address challenges in mountain tourism, particularly landscape preservation amid growing visitor numbers. His central idea shifts the perception of mountain refuges from "conquered" territories to spaces fostering dialogue with their surroundings. "We must stop seeing refuges as places that have been conquered," he said.

The project blends tradition and innovation, using techniques like dry stone construction and *yukimatsu*, a Japanese method that burns wood's outer layer to make it antibacterial and water-resistant without paints or varnishes, avoiding aerosol emissions. The structure employs a balloon frame system—simple, lightweight, and demountable—allowing transport without helicopters to minimise environmental impact. It reuses parts of the existing refuge while designing removable elements for eventual decommissioning.

Alcoverro envisions projects serving nature over human dominance. His work includes a provocative Dada-style manifesto declaring the refuge not as shelter, but a "cry of stone and wood" challenging the wind. "The mountain should not embrace you; it should challenge you," he writes, imagining a wall-less house with a roof suspended between earth and sky—an untameable site.

The designer sees *Torb* as viable and low-impact, reordering existing elements rather than adding new ones. He hopes to realise such conscious projects in Andorra, his home. While design has fuelled consumer society, Alcoverro views sustainability as a moral duty to counter its pressures.