An Aquatic Exploration Centre By Johannes Sverlander
Story: The explorer’s journey On the backside of the city there was a green flourishing valley with steep mountains on each side. We navigated through its beautiful landscape which seemed infinite. Suddenly we reached the end of the valley and discovered a small spring, which aroused from the bottom of the impressing mountain. The caves of the mountain were so dark and were the home for many peculiar hidden things. We didn’t enter as it seemed safer to stay by the pouring spring water. The water was so fresh and so clear we started to drink and live from it. We thought we reached paradise and so we settled down and let time pass by.
Many years passed and suddenly an earthquake hit our grounds to its core. Destruction was unavoidable. We saw parts of our lives drift away along the stream. Left were a ruin and the fragments of what had been. The explorer decided to follow the destructed parts and go on a new journey to gather the broken pieces and look for new life. He desired to discover another world, even more precious than the one he left behind. He never stopped looking. The project explores the exploration itself being inspired by Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. It is a story on the one hand about a journey in the great depths of the sea and the fear
for the unknown and on the other hand it is about human nature and our desire to explore, understand our surroundings and always strive forward. It is a journey where relationships are being challenged, dealing with the fantastic, the dangerous and the undiscovered beneath the surface and also our negligence of nature. Along the path of the research centre, the exploration and its discoveries are being processed, documented and finally expressed to the public through an archive. The exloration centre is not only a centre for researchers, but becomes an attraction for the city and the region for visitors to engage in. How do we care for nature?
Today’s view towards the sea over the valley from the mountain (Site in bottom right corner)
Exploration
Process
Explaination
Process
Actions
Zoom-in on site, gathering point & the explorer’s path for where to find new ways to engage with the water and the landscape
Section A-A 1:200
The Sleeping Unit
Exterior View From Bridge
Section B-B 1:200
Interior of Atrium, Sleeping Units and Roof
City & Region Relation Site (Red) in relation to the city of Dubrovnik. Main road connection highlighted (black), as well as a proposed way for boat transports (white) of both visitors & researchers. The new research centre is a great opportunity to communicate the marine life & human effects upon it to the public by making part of the centre an attraction.
Earth relief of the plate tectonics & depths
New Centre
Old Town
Site(red) & Earthquakes above 4 on the richter scale the last 50 years
The Archive, the Exhibition & Part of the Hanging Auditorium