Spirit of Forgotten Forests
京都の町において、人々の生活や信仰の場として自然は常に身近で神聖なものであり、町を包み込む温かい布のようなものとして大切に扱われてきた。そしてすべての自然は平等に貴重であり、自然の要素である木や石、水、土すべてにそれぞれのSpiritが宿っているという人々の自然に対する愛がこの町を自然と美しく共生する日本の文化の中心地として形作ってきたであろう。
| Location: | Kyoto, Japan |
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| Status: | Competition Entry |
| Date: | 2018 |
Plan and Section
A project in collaboration with Asuka Kohno
Kyoto was built on the strength of a very intimate relationship between the human realm and the nature which cradles it. From that relationship, an appreciation of landscapes and their changing character grew to become an integral part of the rituals of daily life (a folklore of spirits, hidden in light and obscurity, in the movement or stillness of plants and water, of soils and stones.)
Long ago, the site of this project was a forest, but today it is nothing more than an isolated patch of greenery, disconnected from its traditional presence in daily life by tall hedges; but take a peek behind the hedges and you’ll find a forest with its own story to tell.
Besides the formal pathways, sidewalks and parking lots that have become the spaces of daily life, we find a small patch of forest yearning to be rediscovered. We enter and find three distinct landscapes, each with its own character, its own spirit. To communicate with these landscapes we insert a small temporary structure inspired by that landscape, a lantern-like device to capture and amplify its unique qualities. These structures invite us to dwell within a forgotten forest, to observe its beauty, and immerse ourselves in its stories with all of our senses. In addition to existing hedges, we designed simple earth walls, benches and plantings that guide people's gaze and movement towards discovering the three different spirits of the site. The sequence through the site is designed to engage visitors in a playful game of hide-and-seek with each of the three landscapes.
Procession / Experiences
Three spirits of the site:
A. 温糺室 / A warm room
Under a dense coniferous forest canopy, warm waterways course through herbaceous plants; within this soft and humid space, one feels cocooned within the warmth of the local ancestral forests that once occupied the site.
B. 木漏れ日 / Sunlight and shadows
Further into the site, the shadows of barren deciduous trees sway in the wind. Within the shoji-like enclosure, visitors find a place where they can enjoy the theatrical performance created by the winter forest.
C. 巣床 / Burrow / Nest bed
Furthest along the path, animals look for places to nest and burrow. Visitors are invited to lower their point of view, hiding themselves close to the ground in a sheltered place where one can see without being seen, and experience a rarely seen side of the forest.
Construction system and timeline
Winnipeg Warming Huts
To bring warmth to a Winnipeg winter, we propose a simple and evocative set of curving walls made of undyed industial felt.
| Location: | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
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| Status: | Competition Entry |
| Date: | 2018 |
To bring warmth to a Winnipeg winter, we propose a simple and evocative set of curving walls made of undyed industial felt. Felt is an ancient material that speaks to us of warmth and comfort not only through it’s insulating qualities, but also it’s soft texture and colour, its density and round sculpural forms. Rather than creating a single enclosed space, the meandering walls form pockets of shelter, sized for groups from 3 to 10. At 3.0m high, the walls are high enough to create a sense of deep enclosure, but still open to views of the Forks. The felt will be made rigid and self-supporting by being soaked in water and frozen in the -30°C cold. The assembly process will be a performance in itself, as a pump draws water up from below the river’s frozen surface, and transforms a flimsy substance, hung from portable frames, into a hard shell that nonetheless appears soft.
Construction Process
