In 1971, a Moroccan consulting firm commissioned a project for a vast tourist resort for the Ifni region of Morocco. Gathering artists and architects as well as sociologists, psychologists, scientists and “cyberneticians,” the project was to be a revolutionary alternative to tourism in the age of mass consumption. The “Vacation = Rest + Experience” concept proposed by Hermann R. Grub was to guide their thinking. Huth and Domenig were assigned the entire hotel complex, comprising 30,000 beds and an airport. Floraskin results from the development of an adaptable and limitlessly expandable construction system combining the technological principle of the megastructure and the natural principle of organic growth. The project is made up of two structures: The main one, built out of prefabricated elements (bars and cables) with a star-shaped layout resulting in a hexagonal system; the other secondary structure, a vegetal membrane composed of humus pollen and irrigated plantings. It envelops the main structure thanks to a process of “cocoon-pulverization” and provides the air-conditioning. The basic infrastructure and the hotel rooms (“cocoons”), spatial pods in reinforced plastic materials, are connected to the main structure in clusters. In addition to these infrastructures, sensorial systems were planned to enhance the quality of the experience: air cushions imagined by Christo, “biokinetic” plantings by HA Schult and an “oasis” (Psy-Point) proposed by Haus-Rucker-Co. Jeeps equipped for radio transmissions were supposed to be made available to vacationers as part of their leisure activities, enabling them to remain in constant communication with the central station and to “participate” in the adventures of other guests at the resort.
