Resilience thinking
TIME FOR CHANGE
I started to notice a change in attitude, where we perhaps now are in the process of enrolling into a new western view of our belonging to the earth, as Krogh M. writes in her contribution to the Venice Biennial under the theme Connectedness, or like Coccia E. who discuss the world through the perspective of the plants or Barthes C. that introduces a critical thinking stating we should stop building now!?
We are consuming and polluting without considering the consequences. Addressing climate change and biodiversity loss is of outmost importance in today’s society. How can we dwell coexisting with the nature? How can we coexist between forests, wetlands, marshes, seabed, rivers and grasslands? How do we construct our houses carbon free? Can we rethink the surroundings and how we dwell occupying less surface of earth? And what will spatially be dominating in a Danish context? What can a neighborhood then look like? How does the garden, the semi-public and public areas suddenly look like? Do we have streets like we know them today?
CONNECTEDNESS
Our seizure of vast areas of the earth’s surface plays a major role in both the climate and the biodiversity crises of the 21. century. Fundamentally the threatening battle for land is about three things we need to do in the coming decades. They are all necessary, if we are to get a handle on climate change and ensure a good life for all people in the meantime. However, if we continue as today it will make us seize even larger areas of land, and if they do, it will affect both the climate and – especially – biodiversity. The three global things are finding CO2-neutral alternatives to coal, oil and natural gas, providing food for a larger and richer world population and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Effectively the most efficient process of removing carbon dioxide, as Thunberg G. propose in her recent publication The Climate Book, with great success is rewilding, meaning we got to return vast areas of earth’s surface to nature. This has a great influence in terms of choice of materiality and defining the architecture for this project. Professor Katherine Richardson from the University of Copenhagen formulates the challenge like this: ”It is about being as frugal and efficient as possible with our consumption of land, because we cannot afford to cut down more wild nature.”
The state of our forest, wetlands, grassland, creeks, etc. plays a crucial role in solving these issues. Forests serve as crucial ecosystems, providing habitat to countless species of plants and animals, and sequestering significant amounts of carbon.
They are also essential to sustaining livelihoods, producing various products and services, and shielding us from illnesses. The planting of new trees (afforestation) and the replacement of deforested or recently harvested areas (reforestation) are widely recognized as key methods to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Critical organisation’s, like Rewilding Europe call to action regarding the task of rewilding by rethinking the process ect. Likewise, the municipality of Aarhus, DK, aim to become carbon neutral by 2030 and as a key reaching this, they are to create 3200 hectares new forest, in total 8000 hectares. In dealing with these three global issues how can the new afforestation areas play a sustainable and spatial role in handling the massive urbanization processes, we are experiencing, if combined with habitation?
CO-EXISTENCE
I want to investigate how ’we’ humans can coexist with nature through studies of how to inhabit a forest. The ambition is to strengthen the ecosystems of the forest, and by that investigate how architecture can contribute and benefit this dwelling of co-existence. The study is about establishing new perspectives, thoughts and insights inhabiting forests, where the architecture both are strengthening our connectedness with the environment and become more resilient to changes. Reflecting the global tasks, I choose to work with an ‘already in progress’ local afforestation silviculture area in Aarhus, in-
vestigating how this can be inhabited. The forests are located at the outskirts of Aarhus, well connected to highways, public transport as the light-rail, bus-routes, and bike-lanes connected to Aarhus centrum. How we can live radical different from what we do today in this manmade forest, rethinking the space occupied, and the impact of the settlement’s footprints, underlining the title ‘coexistence though inhabited forest’.
FUTURE DWELLING
The project’s aim is to design a community, a village of dwellings situated in the forest in a synergetic and symbiotic relationship, where the forest, biodiversity etc., thrive parallel with a modern human settlement benefiting from each other. The architecture and urban design critically revisit our current typology and structure of settlement today. The chosen typology for dwelling will showcase the opportunities of how carbon free materials can be used intellectually strengthening our relation and coexistence with nature. The project will study and examine scale, typology and relations of those of a settlement in a forest. What will this settlement look like? Will the typology be spread out, ‘vanishing in the forest’ as one usually imagine, or will it be larger structures as the housing project in Virvoituksentie forest outside Turku, Finland? And what is the relation between the chosen typology of dwelling and the nature? How do you then define the zones from public to private? What will the spacial relation between our understanding
of what is inside and what defined as outside be? Will it be, as simple as divided by a wall, or will it be more complex as the forest itself, experienced as an infinity of columns. What does this do to architecture – a dwelling in the forest?
MATERIALS
Due to previous work and research into qualities of constructing with carbon free materials – defining it as ‘the dug’ and ‘the grown’ I will in relation to the three global tasks utilize this knowledge investigate how these materials combined can strengthen the architecture. In a Danish context the materials could be hay, straw, hemp, seagrass, wood as grown and gravel, sand, clay, earth as dug. As Pallasmaa J., correctly states, the material needs to tell us what they are by being honest, reflecting little processing and thereby a long lifespan.
The settlement will showcase new ways of living in a close relation with the forest. And overall, the project proposes an architecture that rethinks and inspire a radical shift in attitudes and on how we dwell in nature, with all elements – ecosystems, humans, wild animals, plants, crops, and livestock.
“Reality, as I see it, is the intangible essence of Truth and Beauty, timeless and universal in relation to man. Reality is my lifetime search to produce timeless, joy-giving, life-giving free spaces to fulfil ideally man’s needs - physical and spiritual, i.e. total.”
– John Lautner.
SUPPORTING WORK METHODOLOGY
This project will merge research, experiments, and design together throughout the semester. The aim of ‘Coexistence though inhabited forests’ is to propose what the future of a chosen site of the selected forests might look like, in the municipality of Aarhus, regarding what the researchers call resilience thinking and afforestation and reforestation. To continue my research throughout the semester I plan on interviewing different actors who partake in afforestation. My project will be an investigation into how an architectural approach can strengthen this coexistence between human and nature. Researching forestry practice, ecological principals of creating optimized settings for biodiversity and how the municipality of Aarhus as case deals with their current forest projects.
Through site visits, modelling, drawings I want to combine this into design parameters and sum it up as the first design proposal for the first mid-crit. My architectural concept will develop through a concise program. Following the midcrit #1, I will continue researching further into the inhabited forest, based on the analytical phase’s design parameters, developed through an investigating approach with sketch proposals, which will be the product at the second mid-crit. While finalizing the project, the project report will be a tool for reflection on the entire process. The project will be visualized though drawings, renders, models, and details of selected constructions elements.
7. Semester, landscape: A two lane, curved walking and bathing-bridge at the shore of the shallow waters at the northen beaches of Frederikshavn, locally known as the palmbeach. The bridge are to strengthen the relationship between the people thoughout the season and the nature allowing new and different appoaches and possibilities of enganging with the water. Creating shelter for fishing for craps, seashells, sunbathing or simply taking a dip in the cristal clear waters. The materials of the construction are oak, cladding will be douglas.
8.Semester, transformation: the ’new nordic’ national center of scandinavian settlement giving new life to the former national aquarium in Charlottenlund. Exploring biobased materiales this is a study of carbonfree construction in connection to how one feel the taktility and relate it back to the nature. This aims to convince people the ugent need to change perspective on building materials.
9.Semester, The peninsulas of Stralsund. Aiming to strengthen the relation between locals and the water by amplifying the presence of how the water is reachable. The former industrial area will be divided in five new islands. Along the inner side of these a large area will be transformed into a water channel, recreating the medieval coastline and continuing the boulevard from the old centre, relinking the human scale to the harbour preserving the historical industrial elements, such as cranes, train tracks, silo towers etc. respecting the water, nonhuman life and maritime activities.
Coexistence through inhabitated forests
PLANNING
EDUCATION & RELEVANT WORK LITERATURE
Master of Arts in Architecture at Aarhus School of Architecture Aarhus C / Studio 1D: Desirable Densities w. Jan Gehl / 1.09.2022 - current /
Studio 2A: Building Design and Techniques / 1.09.202130.06.2022
ReVærk / Architectual Office / Aarhus, Denmark / 01.12.2021 - current / parttime bygningskonstruktør /
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture / Aarhus School of Architecture / Aarhus C / 1.09.2017 - 30.06.2020 / Unit 2/3F, Radical Sustainable Architecture
Bachelor of Architectural Technology and Construction Management at VIA Univercity College Aarhus C / 7.Semester / 01.02.2021-30.06.2021 / 15.08.2014 - 30.06.2017 / Intern at Valenco / Valencia / Spain /
Exchange at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic / Tauranga / New Zealand
IPPC Sixth Assessment Report; Climate Change 2022: Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPPC - https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/
Thunberg, G (2022), The Climate Book, Edited by Andersen, Politikens Forlag
Coccia, E, (2021), Planternes Liv - Blandingens Metafysik, Edited by Havemann, Hans Reitzels Forlag
Guarneri, A.B (2020), Vegetarian Architecture - Case Studies on Building and Nature, Berlin: Jovis Verlag
Watson, J, (2019), Lo-TEK - Design by Radical Indigenism, New York: Avery Robertson, Tashen
Kapfinger O, Sauer M (2017) Martin Rauch - Refined earth construction & design with rammed earth, edition Detail
Pallasmaa, J,(2015), Eyes of the Skin - Architecture and the Senses, 2th edn, Edited by Colding, Arkitektens Forlag
Cohen J.L., Olsberg N., and Escher F,(2008), Between Earth and Heaven - The Architecture of John Lautner, Edited by Olsberg, New York: Rizzoli international publications Inc.
Article: ”Naturens skæbne er i vores hænder.” zetland.dk/historie/sejdBLZn-ae6XddK5-fd79a
Krogh M, Connectedness, Strandberg Publishing