The north possesses a mysterious and unique beauty. It is a pervasive kind of beauty which does not announce itself with decadence, but rather speaks in soft and confident tones, and so, surrounds everything with its influence. It needs nothing more than its simple existence, and stands with extraordinary grace amidst the echoing silence.
Using this beauty as inspiration, we worked with Noriko Maeda, the Japanese calligrapher, to explore the form of the warming hut. We began by exploring variations on several Japanese characters that related to the sense of beauty we wanted our hut to embody: ice, wind heart strings, play movement and beauty. The form was then designed using the movement, fines and spaces implied in these characters
The tectonics of the pavilion are simple, consisting of three types of vertical poles, each relating to a fundamental property of shelter. One type provides structure, a second provides light, and the third provides heat. The simplicity and abstraction of this approach is key for the design since it will compliment rather than compete with the vast beauty of the landscape and surrounding environment.
The exaggerated vertically irregular arrangement of vertical poles promote a shimmering and mysterious visual effect for skaters as they glide through and around the hut. Rather than conceiving of the hut as a singular point along the world longest skating rink, this design creates a shelter that responds to the attenuation and flow that is characteristic of the site and creates an experience across the full length of the river. These huts are not arrival points or discrete spectacles, but soft ephemeral spaces existing within the flow of time. A moment from which to appreciate the mysterious beauty of all that is around.
(From competitor's text)
11 scanned / 8 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Plan
- Axonometric Drawing
- Sketch
- Diagram
