Returning to nature
IKEAxH22 city expo competition winning project.
Innovation
Innovation has driven the industrial and technical revolution to places we could not even dream about before. On a practical level, humans have been able to develop fantastic interventions and revolutionized our ways of living. The transformation is so rapid that our minds seem to lack behind.
Nature
Humans are part of nature, but our activity is commonly described as separated from the natural phenomenon. We use the term human nature, a clear distinction between us and our surroundings. It is unclear when this separation started. However, the industrialization with the power to use stored energy to transform the physical world on a massive scale clearly speeded up the transformation. Currently we are in a situation where our footprint on earth is so great that it affects natures all systems and processes. One could even say that we now live in a post-nature world. It is time for us humans to find a mutual prosperous relationship with nature. The next phase of innovation takes place within our minds.
Ritual
To reunite, I have designed the ritual of “returning to nature”. To respect our surroundings, we need to understand where we come from and accept our part of it. For years we were fearful towards nature. Now, we are fearful of what we can do with it.
The ritual starts with a widening perspective of the scenery. The participant takes a step up on a walking path and walks into nature from above the ground. The path directs the participant through the environment and gives him a different and stronger experience of it. Just like being nude with just a pair of socks on enforces the feeling of nudity, the feeling of nature enlarges when walking on top of it. After a variation of higher and lower parts the path leads up to a dwelling. The participant climbs into it and closes the hatch which leaves the cave like room in darkness. Here you ideally spend the night whilst listening to the nature outside. This is yet another experience of nature when hearing gets central when lacking visual preference. When the morning comes you leave the structure and climb out. You walk the final path and step down. Now you are reunited with nature. You are nature and you are here to take care of it.
Structure
The structure is defined by an easy to build manner. The timber is all standard dimensions and treated with environmentally friendly oil. The repetitive shape is inspired by pinecones and their recurring layers of sprouts. The structure is based on three different parts. The path, the bridge, and the dwelling. These can be combined in numerous ways. The timber is in one single standard dimension (28x120mm).
