Eco Camp, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile The Torres del Paine National Park, now designated a World Biosphere  Reserve, is without doubt one of the most beautiful and enthralling pots in the whole planet. This spectacular park, so remote and mysterious, each year attracts thousands of tourists and adventure seekers of all nationalities. The growth in demand of visitors has not been matched by the equivalent expansion of the infrastructure of hotels and services inside the park. This lack, which has continued for several years, is creating really serious problems in the form of the environmental impact on the park and the quality of tourist services in general. When we became aware of this problem a few years ago, we decided to start a serious process of research and study of alternatives to hotels, one which would allow us to create a prototype solution to these kinds of problems in National Parks. The problem was: how to reconcile the care of the fragile environment of a National Park with the need to provide an infrastructure and level of comfort suitable for our visitors? Was it possible to apply the same design criteria as were used in cities in surroundings like a National Park? Would it not be reasonable to ask people visiting these remote places, so pristine and delicate, to direct their energies while they were there to preserving what they saw for others who would come later? The answer which we arrived at for all this is what we have called the "Ecocamp": a solution which offers accommodation which is modern, comfortable, transportable and suitable for the rigours of the Patagonian climate; equipped with modern and environmentally friendly systems for the disposal of sewage and rubbish, with an efficient use of energy and the environment and at the same time aesthetically stylish. As well as this, those who visit the ecocamp, our guests, are key actors in our conservation mission: they have accepted the challenge of minimizing the impact of their presence, accepting that they will not have private bathrooms, reducing the use of energy and water and caring for the immediate environment. We hope that this project, which we have been developing and constructing in the way of a pilot in Torres del Paine, can be taken to other similar places in Chile and will be able thus to respond to the ever increasing interest of visitors in remote places with the care and protection which those places need in order to preserve them for the future. ECOCAMP LAS TORRES Location: • 120km/75mi from Pto. Natales and 370km/230mi from Pta. Arenas; • Standing in front of the Paine Towers amidst a beautiful Lenga forest; • 6-8 hrs walk from the domes to the foot of the Paine Towers; Design: The architectural solution that we adopted for this place arose from the old photographs of Kawesqar Indians, natives of this part: The huts which they constructed were of an igloo type covered with guanaco skins. Starting with that we realised that the domes could be the answer that we were looking for: they are semi-hemispherical structures formed by a number of isosceles triangles. This allowed the structure, when attacked by tremendous forces such as the not unusual winds of 160km per hour in this area, to receive the attack uniformly on the foundation part, reducing to a minimum the possibility that the structure might collapse. As well as this the round shape of the dome minimized its exposure to the wind. Finally, the semi-hemisphere gave the most internal space in relation to the surface and allowed us to be very efficient in the allocation of space and maintaining heat. • The concept is being exposed to  nature as in a camp tent but with the comfort and  sophistication of a four star hotel. • Designed and built interfering as little as possible with the environment. The whole hotel has been built over lifted wooden platforms eliminating the  need of foundations and cement floors. Animals and fresh air circulate underneath; • Dormitories and common areas are contained on Geodesic domes inspired in  the native Alacalufe’s semicircular huts;   • Geodesic form minimizes resistant to strong Patagonean winds and the exchange of temperature with the outdoors; • Circulation areas consist in raised walkways open to rain, sun, and wind that allow guests to be constantly exposed to the surrounded nature. Not to roof the circulation area allow an important reduction of constructed areas and therefore huge savings on materials; • Sunlight fills the domes minimizing the use of artificial light; • Every dome has the necessary privacy for personal introspection; • 30 people is the maximum concentration accepted at EcoCamp; • Only renewable energy sources are used. Wind generators provide energy supply for illumination, solar panels heat the compost toilettes and gas supply is used for cooking and refrigeration. • Insulation is passive and does not require the supply of energy. Domes are coated to minimize temperature exchange; • Toilettes are designed to separate solid and liquid waste and to make compost on two heated chambers; • Waste management system consider classification of waste, exportation out of the wilderness area and recycling.