Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Using thatch in reference to vernacular English architecture, this low-tech cabin explores notions of the ‘primitive hut’ and organic forms of shelter. The ‘eye’ of the cabin resembles the overhanging eaves of a traditional thatched roof. From above, timed canisters would release an oozing liquid that gradually envelops this womb-like structure and transforms it into an emphatically modern ‘white cube’.