How can architecture act as a medium to instigate awareness amongst local people, of the importance of protecting Myanmar ’s forests ?
The design aims to merge with the forest it will protect. This will be done through both materiality and the experience instigated by the building. Hsipaw forest collective invites the visitor to meander through each level, maintaining an openness to reflect the surrounding forest cover. Each level of the project houses a different programme whilst transitioning from density to openness, instigated through the positioning of the columns, acting as the main structural elements for the building. In addition to the columns translating the structure of the forest, the roof system aims to mimic the forest canopy. The roof system creates a new topography, with collection points for the rains during the monsoon, the water then trickles through the building via open drains, to be collected for use in the building, an abstract perception of the quality of the rains trickling through the forest canopy. To connect with the existing site the entrance follows the path to the existing pagoda, giving further reason for local people to feel welcome to the building. The two most important spaces are the knowledge exchange and presentation spaces, as they will act to facilitate a growing awareness of the importance of the forest, and give room for open discussion between all parties involved in the co-managment scheme.