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Built from solid larch for the Trentino Alps, the bench stores a tent, thermal blankets, a spade, and a torch for hikers caught out without proper equipment.
Francesco Faccin’s Pancalpina is a wooden bench for the Trentino Alps that doubles as an emergency micro-shelter for people caught in the mountains without proper equipment. Commissioned by the Autonomous Province of Trento, the project takes a familiar object from Alpine paths and gives it a concealed interior: a survival kit with thermal blankets, a spade, and a torch, along with a tent that can be pitched using the bench’s own structure. It is not meant to replace a hut or bivouac, but to offer basic protection while waiting for rescue or spending a night out of rain or snow.
The structure is made from solid larch with stainless-steel elements, a material pairing chosen for exposure to mountain weather and for a construction that keeps the number of components low. The project also stays close to its place of origin: the larch structure is made by Decrestina carpentry, the equipment is supplied by Franco Gecele, and the tent comes from Ravelli Sport. Pancalpina was developed as part of an initiative to promote Trentino timber and appeared in the “Nodi” exhibition at ADI in Milan, although it has not yet been set up as a production or distribution program.
The reason for the bench is practical rather than symbolic. Climate change and the growing number of people entering mountain environments have changed the profile of Alpine visitors, bringing more inexperienced hikers into places where weather, distance, and poor preparation can turn quickly into risk. Faccin’s proposal does not make the mountains safer by pretending they are less demanding; it gives one of their quietest pieces of infrastructure a second job, so a place to sit can also become a point of shelter, equipment, and orientation when the route stops being routine. Images courtesy of Francesco Faccin.
