A cabin designed by Renzo Piano and RPBW for the Vitra Campus.
Minimalist housing has always interested Renzo Piano, since he was a student.
Almost obsessed by the idea, during his career Renzo Piano proposed the “mini house” theme to his students in London and also designed some contemporary “unités d’habitation” such as cars, boats and cells for nuns (Poor Clare nunnery in Ronchamp).
At that time there were no reasons of economic efficiency but only self-moderation.
After several prototypes, made out of plywood, concrete and finally wood, Diogene was introduced for the first time in 2009, in the monograph booklet “Being Renzo Piano” (by the Italian magazine “Abitare”). Rolf Fehlbaum, chairman of the Vitra AG, read the booklet and understood the potential of the idea: Vitra doesn’t only manifacture design objects but also considers furniture as an essential part of the human environment. In 2010 a great collaboration began, a partnership that lead to the final result: a project able to combine spatial independence to energetic self-sufficiency.
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