A nomadic workshop for a changing landscape
Boano Prišmontas · Milan Design Week 2017
Role: Product Designer & Collaborator
How can design respond to communities facing climate change, limited resources and the loss of traditional skills?
Quiubox approaches these challenges as an opportunity to work directly with local communities and involve them in developing their own strategies for the future.
Designed by Boano Prišmontas, Quiubox is a mobile workshop and public gathering space conceived for the indigenous Afro-Colombian communities along Colombia’s Pacific coastline.
Rather than introducing a finished solution from outside, the project proposes a place where people can meet, learn and build together.
Under one shared roof, a workshop coexists with a public space for gathering and exchanging knowledge. The workshop is conceived as a catalyst for local production and education, teaching new approaches to construction, boat repair and furniture making, while supporting the development of new skills and strengthening the sense of community.
A workshop that moves
Quiubox sits on a floating platform, allowing the workshop to travel along the coastline, between islands, through mangroves and into river communities.
The intention was to create a structure capable of reaching more than 40 villages, allowing knowledge, tools and resources to circulate between communities rather than remaining fixed in a single location.
Mobility therefore becomes an essential part of the architecture: the workshop travels to the people who need it.
Modular by design
Quiubox is conceived as a modular structure made from CNC-machined plywood panels.
The panels are cut according to an efficient nesting strategy to minimise material waste. The individual components are designed to be replicable, lightweight and easy to assemble, making the system adaptable to different locations and future applications.
Each module uses dry joints that interlock without additional fixings. The construction system therefore becomes an integral part of the architecture rather than something hidden behind it.
The appearance of Quiubox emerges directly from this logic: its aesthetic is a consequence of how it is made.
The resulting façade combines references from different worlds — the industrial character of a traditional sawtooth-roof factory, the circular opening of a boat and the arches of a loggia. This hybrid language reflects the project’s relationship with industry, maritime culture, local architecture and community life.
More than a workshop
The roof is designed to accommodate photovoltaic panels, generating electricity to power the workshop tools and provide energy to the surrounding community.
The public space can function as a place to sit, meet and exchange knowledge, while also providing access to electricity and wireless connectivity.
The project also integrates strategies for water collection and purification, allowing the building to contribute to the basic infrastructure of the communities it serves.
Rather than hiding these systems, Quiubox makes them visible and educational. Technology becomes part of the architecture and a tool through which people can understand how resources are collected, transformed and used.
The CNC workshop as a catalyst
At the heart of the concept is the CNC workshop.
Advanced manufacturing technology is introduced not as an end in itself, but as a generator for local growth and self-reliance. With access to digital fabrication, communities can develop small-scale projects responding directly to their own needs.
The workshop could be used to produce components for new homes, repairs to informal settlements, furniture and boats, while helping to reintroduce and preserve traditional fishing practices.
Plywood was selected for its combination of lightness, strength, availability, sustainability and accessibility. Its suitability for CNC fabrication also allows the same construction principles to be adapted and replicated across different communities.
Design as empowerment
Quiubox ultimately proposes a different relationship between design and community.
Instead of simply delivering an object, it provides tools, knowledge and infrastructure that allow people to participate in shaping their own environment.
The project connects digital fabrication with local knowledge, contemporary technology with traditional skills, and architecture with social infrastructure.
Its ambition is not only to respond to the effects of climate change, but to create the conditions for communities to become active participants in designing their own future.
Project Information
Project
Quiubox — A Nomadic Workshop
Studio
Boano Prišmontas
Role
Product Designer · Collaborator
Exhibition
Milan Design Week / Fuorisalone · 2017
Location / Context
Pacific Coast of Colombia
Fields
Product Design · Architecture · Social Design · Modular Design · Digital Fabrication · Sustainable Design · Community & Craft
Recognition & Publications
ArchDaily · Architizer · Area · Archello · Domus · Dwell · Elle Decor Italia · Divisare · gooood · Tortona Design Week
