The Woodland Playground Construction Project
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Ethos The woodland Cemetery (Skogskyrkogården) in the southern suburbs of Stockholm is an extraordinary place, where landscape and buildings are experienced as an architecture which affects the visitor - that is, an architecture which moves the visitor in a poetic way. All architecture should be poetic, but this landscape was made poetic by its architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz for a particular reason: it is a place of remembrance, a place where the ordinary people of Stockholm can come to celebrate those who are no longer with them. As part of the investigation to the studio’s yearlong project at Skogskyrkogården, UNESCO World Heritage Site, we will be constructing a shelter for Kingston based St Johns C Of E Primary School. The design will be based on the design of the Woodland Chapel by Gunnar Asplund. The chapel was built in 1918-20 just after the First World War, as a key building for the development of Skogskyrkogården . The Asplund’s initial design for the chapel had to be altered to recognise the difficult financial situation, by reducing its size to a modest scale, and changing the construction method from using stone to wood. As a studio we will continue this notion of economy of means. The original design will be transformed, influenced by the choice of alternative materials and construction methods. We will try engaging with a wider community in Kingston. Involving other disciplines beyond the school of architecture.
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Working with Community The project is based on a strict and professional collaboration with St. Johns Primary School, Stanley Picker Gallery and the local community. The idea of the project is to reinterpret an iconic religious building and change its purpose to work as a ‘woodland’ shelter for the children. Our proposal is a threshold for the Primary School and their master plan for the site. The design will act not only as a shelter but as an exterior class room where children can take part in several of activities and classes. The design will act as a place of study and fun. Our intention is to involve the children in the construction project; creating a series of workshop where the pupils can take a part in the construction of papier mache dome. This way the children will have the sense of ownership over the shelter. The project is gradually gaining popularity in the local community, being written about in the Stanley Picker Gallery and local student newspaper, gives our construction team a motivation to continue the hard work.
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Location
*Drawing Not To Scale
St Johns C Of E Primary School. Proposed Site Location
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Site Section B
A
A
B
Section AA
*Drawing Not To Scale
Section BB
*Drawing Not To Scale
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Proposed Plan
*Drawing Not To Scale
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Section AA
*Drawing Not To Scale
Section BB
*Drawing Not To Scale
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Structural Model
*Drawing Not To Scale
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Structural Model
*Drawing Not To Scale
The Woodland Playground Building Woodland Chapel
Visualization