INHABITATION OF A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
INTRODUCING NEW OCCUPANCIES AT THE WEST COAST WEST COAST: DENMARK: VIGSØ
“ The project is about investigations and developing concepts and methods to generate architecture “
TONE MARIE HORVE | AAA | INSTITUTE1 | MAKING REAL V-09 | THESIS | 18062009
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Thesis Report Aarhus School of Architecture Tone Marie Horve V-09 - Institut 1 - Making Real Tutor: Chris Thurlbourne
content
1.0 introduction
aim..................................................................................9 vision..............................................................................11 site..................................................................................13 composition....................................................................15
2.0 landscape
landscape.......................................................................19 zones..............................................................................21 history.............................................................................29 existing occupancies......................................................31
3.0 general investigations
introduction.....................................................................35 programming..................................................................37 storyboard......................................................................45 slice in landscape...........................................................47 sketches.........................................................................49
4.0 specific investigations
map of occupants...........................................................55 investigation parametres................................................ 57 movement: model testing...............................................59 movement on site...........................................................61 movement + time............................................................65 existing occupancies......................................................67
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INTRODUCTION
AIM VISION SITE COMPOSITION
5.0 case studies
1.0
introduction.....................................................................73 method...........................................................................75 case study#1: bunkers...................................................77 case study#2: summerhouses.......................................113
6.0 conclusion
conclusion......................................................................137 personal reflection..........................................................139
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1.1 AIM
1.2 VISIONS
The project investigates the relationship between an ephemeral landscape and its occupancies. It is inspired by this years theme of `Institute for Architecture and Esthetics concerning: the nonpermanent and the temporary way of living. It is a study of how these occupancies are merged into this landscape and how to introduce new occupancies in the same landscape.
My vision is to describe the relations between the permanent and the ephemeral in a changing landscape. The project seeks to reinforce the ephemerality on the site - making it more visible through a spatial experience for people visiting the area.
Movement and time are the main parameters. The project will on behalf of the investigations propose concepts and methods to rethink dwelling in a site specific setting. It is both a method and a comment of how to rethink dwelling and using the landscape as form generators.
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1.3 SITE
1.4 COMPOSITION
The project investigates the landscape of Vigsø; a small village at the North-West coast of Denmark. The Danish West coast is dominated by its strong wind and shifting weather - but it is most known for its spectacular nature - parts of it became a national park in 2007 (Thy National Park).
The project is divided into 3 parts; the landscape, the occupants and the provisories. Landscape and occupants are investigations of existing conditions. The Provisories are my conceptual proposition. Model making and drawing are the main tools.
On the site, there is a holiday center; Vigsø Bugt Feriecenter (174 summerhouses) which is the most dominating occupancy in the area. Further down towards and in the sea you`ll find a big enclave of bunkers from the 2. World War. These two different occupancies (bunkers and summerhouses) acts as case studies in my investigations.
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1. Landscape.............Vigsø | West coast of Denmark Existing
2. Occupants....................Bunkers | Summerhouses Add
(My Project)
3.Provisories...Refugiums: Birdwatcher | Artist | Surfer
2.1 LANDSCAPE The site attracts a lot of people mainly because of its spectacular nature and wildlife. It’s also enriched by its historical layer; there are several bunkers situated on the cliff side and all the way into the water. ________________________________________
2.0
LANDSCAPE
LANDSCAPE LANDSCAPE ZONES HISTORY EXISTING OCCUPANCIES
The site is affected by several external factors - and it is always changing - through wind, erosion, waves and ocean currents. These ongoing processes makes the landscape dynamic and complex - the project concerns movement and time as strong site generators. These forces are used as generators to investigate and propose new occupancies in Vigsø. Left: A comparison of the same landscape, 1954 and today.
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1954
1 2
2009
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2.2
CLIFF | BEACH
LANDSCAPE ZONES
The landscape consists of 3 main landscape zones:
The natural forces along the West coast are so powerful: Causing the coastline to move and change, eruding in to the land. It is never constant. The bunkers have become a symbol of this silent, ongoing movement.
1: CLIFF | BEACH 2: KLIT LANDSCAPE 3: SUMMER RESERVOIR
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KLIT LANDSCAPE
SUMMER RESERVOIR
The klit is a landscape made by sand drifting from the beach making it hard for normal vegetation to survive - resulting in a naked landscape without sheltered space.
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The summerhouses are built in enclaves into the landscape they all have the same construction and design, only varying in size. They offer a general way of dwelling and are connected to the Vacation center which offers a wider range of facilities.
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2.3 HISTORY
2.4 EXISTING OCCUPANCIES
During the 2. World War, the Germans put up an extensive coastal battery along the danish West coast. There are around 50 bunkers in this landscape – displaced from its original position. They were hidden into the cliff. Because of external factors as erosion, wind, waves and the sea eating up the coastline – there is an ongoing, slow movement of the bunkers.
The occupancies; bunkers and summerhouses, are both a part of this complex landscape – which they have in different ways merged into: The summerhouses controlled, the bunkers less controlled – which underline the bunkers temporarity and the summerhouses permanence. The bunkers act as an ephemeral occupant whereas the summerhouse act as a constant occupant. They act in contrast to each other.
In 1966 the Danish Association for Holiday (Dansk Folkeferie) decided to built up a village of summerhouses – 174 in all.
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Def. Bunkers:
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the in- habitants from falling bombs or other attacks. They were used extensively in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War for weapons facilities, command and control centers, and storage facilities. 31
3.1 INTRODUCTION - general investigations The very first investigations concerns the relations between different factors on the site: Conditions, users, activities, program and geography. It also investigates the interrelationship between them.
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3.0
GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS INTRODUCTION PROGRAMMING STORYBOARD SLICE IN LANDSCAPE SKETCHES
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sky
horisont
sand
waves
water
erosion
windy
no wind
clouded
sun
condition
tourists
locals
ornotolog
bathingguests
fisherman
painter
artist
kiter
surfer
user
work
inhabit
hiking
watch birds
recreate
paddling
fishing
kitesurfing
wavesurfing
windsurfing
sunbathing
swimming
lightstudy
be creative
activity
surfboardclub: socialspace kitchen inside wardrobe | toilets surfboard storeage
jetty for small boats
PATHWAY
camping
bathing jetty outside wardrobes
lighthouse
REFUGIUM
observingtower research education
birdtower
program
in water
in BETWEEN - the coastline
the beach
klippen
klitten
geography
3.2 PROGRAMMING#1
3.1 PROGRAMMING#2
I start to program the site by defining some categories I want to investigate: conditions on the site, who are using the area, the activities going on, the geography, proposing a program that makes use of the findings.
After programming and studying the outcome and the connections that appears in the diagram - I become more specific in my program concerning which user I want to appeal to, and which program I want to work with:
The different categories (in diagram on the left) are connected through lines - as a method to visualize the relationship between each category.
Program: Refugium/ Accommodation for specific needs User: Birdwatcher, Surfer and Artist
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DIAGRAM2: Connecting users in the area, creating meeting points.
DIAGRAM1: Users in area
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BIRDWATCH:surveillance:birds
WRITE:surveillance:view and words
PAINT:surveillance:horizont/daylight
SURF:surveillance:waves
REFUGIUM:
DIFFERENT DWELLINGS/
+
++
++++ +++ ++++
movement:
IN COUNTRY
“KLITTEN”
CLIFF
ON BEACH
IN WATER
GEOGRAPHY:
FORM#1+LANDSCAPE
3.3 STORYBOARD
3.4
The summerhouses are put out in the landscape in big enclaves. The first thing you see when you enter Vigsø are these rather anonymous summerhouses, but together they become a part of geometrical structure in the landscape - put in a rigid grid. They are occupied in the summer, almost empty in the winter - becoming hibernations waiting for its summer guests. They appear as something solid and permanent according to its very shifting surroundings.
My site is a slice in the landscape - illustrating the purpose of the project. It is a method of studying existing occupancies and introducing new ones - the slice contains a wide variation of landscape and occupancies - I am concentrating on two of them; the bunkers and the summerhouses.
Walking over the naked Klit landscape, you slowly discover these big bunkers popping out of the landscape and slowly disappearing into the sea; the bunkers. As if they have just started a very slowly journey towards the horizon - acting as a contrast to the much more planned and permanent summerhouses. The bunkers once had a role in the landscape - as protection space, today they act as an attraction and playground. What if they were put into action again, into play? As a last thing before disappearing... 45
SLICE IN LANDSCAPE
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Sketch: Programming users into the landscape; the birdwatcher on top - the surfer towards the sea surveying waves - the artist ? I want to create meeting points between different people.
Sketch: Zoning the landscape
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4.1 MAP OF OCCUPANTS Drawing is one of my main tools of investigation. In plan I have been drawing onto the site along the way - adding layers of information, not removing anything - to create a history through time and through drawing.
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4.0
SPECIFIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP OF OCCUPANTS INVESTIGATION PARAMETERS MOVEMENT: model testing MOVEMENT ON SITE MOVEMENT + TIME EXISTING OCCUPANCIES
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TIME MOVEMENT EXISTING OCCUPANCIES
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4.2 INVESTIGATION PARAMETERS
4.3 MOVEMENT: model testing
One of my visions about investigating an ephemeral landscape, is to draw information out of this landscape - and into form, into architecture - creating structures that adapts these qualities. The main parameters then is time - movement investigated through existing occupancies. Photo diagram on left: An early model - investigating movement and light. The photos are parts of a stop motion film where simple planes put together creates complex spaces and light conditions. The model generated a later idea of working with moveable elements.
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Summerhouses:
Controlled Rigid grid Sheltered
NO MOVEMENT STUDY OF MOVEMENT:dynamic planes:drawing in model#1 exploring its frame - creating depth - light/shadow - dynamic landscape
Bunkers:
Displaced Uncontrolled Passive
MOVING
TENSION
4.4 MOVEMENT ON SITE
Site model built in 1:1000: It is an abstraction of the model, as with the site plan - I draw onto the site, in model - analyzing movement and connections between existing occupancies.
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Sketch: Drawing vertical movement on site
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2008
1999
1992
1981
2004
1995
1986
1954
1999
1992
1981
1995
1986
1954
4.5 TIME + MOVEMENT
4.6 EXISTING OCCUPANCIES
Diagram of 6 different time scenarios of the site - illustrating the changing coastline and the adding of new occupancies (summerhouses in 1966).
Diagram of bunkers and summerhouses - my two case studies
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SUMMERHOUSE
OCCUPANCIES
OCCUPANT#1: BUNKERS
BUNKER
OCCUPANT#2: SUMMERHOUSES
Photos of bunkers and summerhouse
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5.0 CASE STUDIES
INTRODUCTION METHOD CASE STUDY#1: BUNKERS CASE STUDY#2: SUMMERHOUSES
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CASE STUDY#1
Bunkers: Displaced Uncontrolled Passive?
THE BEACH
MOVING
CASE STUDY#2
Summerhouses: Controlled? Rigid grid Sheltered
THE SUMMERHOUSES
NO MOVEMENT
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5.1 INTRODUCTION: case studies
5.2 METHOD
My case studies, and method applied are: In each study, existing occupancy works as a “fundament� for a new occupant - which I introduce on behalf of the investigations I make. The bunker site is about slow movement and displacement. Summerhouses exist within a rigid grid, as permanent occupants.
The two case studies acts in contrast to each other. Each of them have defined a major user and minor user. I define a method for each of the two, and particular tools to work with. The methods seeks to propose concepts for new occupancies.
In each study I will introduce my refugiums for artist, birdwatcher and surfer.
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2.Occupants
CASE STUDY#2: SUMMERHOUSES
CASE STUDY#1: BUNKERS
Users
Method Tools
5.3 CASE STUDY#1: BUNKERS
BUNKERS: IDEA
- to create a more site specific and temporary way of occupation
MAJOR USER: Surfer MINOR USER: Artist, Birdwatcher, Tourist
REFUGIUM for artists to stay over longer periods BIRD TOWER to attract both birdwatchers and add to a public route REFUGIUM for surfers to stay for short-/ longer periods
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time (0-50years)
tectonic
reactivate MAJOR: surfer MINOR: artist ı tourist
add
Tools Method Users
THE BUNKERS ARE SLOWLY DISAPPEARING FROM THE LANDSCAPE AND INTO THE OCEAN - THEY ONCE WERE PROTECTED IN THE CLIFF SIDE - AND ACTED AS PROTECTION SPACE FOR MILITARY IN THE 2. W.W. TODAY THEY HAVE MERGED INTO THE LANDSCAPE AS ORGANISMS RESTING ON LAND BEFORE THEY ARE MOVING THE LAST BIT INTO THE WATER. I DON`T WANT TO CHANGE THIS, BUT I WANT TO GIVE THEM SOME ATTENTION AND COMPANY ALONG THE ROAD - AND USE THEM AS FUNDAMENT FOR NEW OCCUPANCIES ON THE BUNKERS CONDITIONS. IN EXTENSION TO THE VIGSØ ACCOMMODATION - I WANT TO CREATE REFUGIUMS FOR AN OTHER GROUP OF VISITORS; SURFERS BIRDWATCHERS AND ARTISTS.
BUNKERS: METHOD
BUNKERS: AS LANDSCAPE
I use the bunkers as fundament for a new occupant: the new occupant is extruded from the bunker - becoming a part of it. The new occupant emphasize and visualizes the ongoing slow movement.
The bunkers are merged into the moving landscape I will act upon. I don`t see the bunkers as a landscape, but a part of it following the same movement.
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BUNKERS: FUNDAMENT FOR NEW OCCUPANCIES
BUNKERS: PRIVATE SPACE - PUBLIC SPACE AS GUIDELINES
Public and private spaces triggers spatial organizing.
Drawing upon bunkers
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PRIVATE PUBLIC
BUNKERS: ADDING VOLUME
Model working: Bunkers are solid objects made of concrete and iron construction. I will use the same construction technique: Preserving the bunkers presence. I will not anchor the new cast into the bunkers. Through balance and gravity, the independent volumes are connected to each other through wire.
Sketch: Programming through drawing
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Modelworking: Framework
Modelworking: Casting on bunkers, extruding surfaces
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Modelworking: Casting on bunkers, spatial details (upside -
Modelworking: Casting on bunkers, extruding surfaces
down)
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vigsø1954
vigsø1974
vigsø1994
TODAY
2030 2050
2070
BUNKERS: TIME SCENARIOS: REGISTRATION
Slow movement: Study of movement through bunkers and its new occupant
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Sketch: MODEL testing, movement: generating
temporary space
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Sketch: MODEL testing, movement: generating
temporary space
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Sketch: New occupant helps bunker moving in a specific direction
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Sketch: TIME scenarios bunker1
Sketch: TIME scenarios bunker3
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5.4 CASE STUDY#2: SUMMERHOUSES
SUMMERHOUSES: IDEA
MAJOR USER: Tourist MINOR USER: Artist, Birdwatcher
- create a flexible and open way of occupation
REFUGIUM for artists to stay over longer periods. BIRD TOWER to attract both birdwatchers and add to a public route. SOCIAL GATHERINGS for all people in the area for social events; exhibitions, summerpartys for summerguests etc.
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displace
remove
reconfigure MAJOR: tourist MINOR: artist ı birdwatcher
split
Tools Method Users
IN EXTENSION TO VIGSØ ACCOMMODATION I WANT TO CREATE NEW OCCUPANCIES IN AN EXISTING CONFIGURATION . BUT MORE CUSTOMIZED THE GUEST CAN DECIDE HIM-/HERSELF HOW TO DWELL - ON BEHALF OF HIS/HER NEEDS. THROUGH EXPANDING EXISTING GRID, I WILL ADD NEW ACCOMMODATION. VIGSØ VACATION CENTER IS SITUATED IN A RIGID GRID WITH VERY CONTROLLED DIRECTIONS. THE ACCOMMODATION IS PUT OUT AS A GENERAL WAY OF DWELL. I WANT TO GIVE THE GUESTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE ITS OWN OCCUPANCY AND CUSTOMIZE FUNCTIONS AFTER NEED.
SUMMERHOUSES: AS LANDSCAPE
SUMMERHOUSES: METHOD
modelphoto
I use the existing grid as fundament for introducing new occupancies in the summer reservoir - and then reconfigure the existing functions.
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The summerhouses are part of a planned and rigid landscape. They are built into it and in contrast to the bunkers, not exposed to the natural forces.
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SUMMERHOUSES: RECONFIGURE VIEWPOINT AND MEETINGPOINTS
SUMMERHOUSES: RECONFIGURE GRID
Adding new directions onto site - expanding existing grid adding new occupancies. The summerhouses are protected from the harsh wind, and built into the landscape - the view and the horizon are therefore limited. The summerhouse offers a very common and general accommodation with all the basic functions to survive and enjoy the reservoir - what if some of them offered a customized way of living, attracting other people? The artist... the surfer..
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SUMMERHOUSES: RECONFIGURE GRID
SUMMERHOUSES: RECONFIGURE FUNCTIONS
Adding new directions onto site - expanding existing grid
Boxes of functions being reconfigured
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SUMMERHOUSES: RECONFIGURE SUMMERHOUSE
Sketch: Storyboard
Modelworking: Reconfiguration of volume
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SUMMERHOUSES: REFERANCE
Moving box
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6.0 CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION PERSONAL REFLECTION
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6.1 CONCLUSION
6.2 PERSONAL REFLECTION
The project is about investigations - and developing concepts and methods to generate architecture. It seeks to propose two different ways of occupation in an ephemeral landscape. One is about reinforcing an ongoing movement, the other one is about adding movement to an permanent occupancy. To orchestrate (iscenesĂŚtte) time and movement, letting it become part of the architecture and the occupancies in the area. My case studies aim to bring landscape and its phenomenons into architecture. It is not only about reinforcing the ephemeral setting - but to become site specific when occupants inhabit a certain place, to draw the ephemerality out of the landscape and into architecture.
Summing up the process: It has been a lot of fun - I have enjoyed it and used that enthusiasm as a driver. At the same time, there has been frustration. I would say that it has been founded in the projects format, being investigations more than a concrete architectural proposal. My aim for the project was to investigate an ephemeral landscape, and then use the outcome to make conceptual proposals for each case study. I have enjoyed the investigations and it has triggered a lot of ideas of how to develop them and to use their potentials. As I have mentioned already in the report, the project is a comment of rethinking dwelling. That could have been a project in it self. I have experimented and developed methods of rethinking dwelling in a particular site. There have been a discussion about how conceptual or how realistic the proposals should be - and how concrete? For me the experimenting and the investigations are the core of the project, but when experimenting architectural themes, I think it is important at the same time to be able to develop potential and realistic proposals. I have learned a lot in this process, what I think I have learned the most - is to believe in your own process - then the project will be able to test both the extremes and the realistic parts.
The concepts should be read as both a comment - but also an architectural proposal. It is a comment on the bunkers role today, as passive attractions along the coast - and it is a comment on the summerhouses positions and permanence in a shifting landscape. I see my project as an ongoing process and it could be continued to a next occupancy.
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