While some of the designs are more experimental than others (an example being a spiral inhabitable sculpture-cum-auditorium on the top of an Alpine mountain in Switzerland), they all share a certain bareness and refined primitiveness — a roughness even, that according to co-editor Borges results from a constant search for the barely minimum requirements for living, as well as an intentional ‘‘exposure to the elements and hazards of nature’’. Organised in thematic groups based on the topographical surroundings of each project (land, forest, mountain and water), Rock the Shack is a pleasure to leaf through, not only for the sheer innovation and originality of the designs contained within, but also for the way in which it poses the question: of all the possessions and amenities we have learned to live with, isn’t there a lot we could do without?