Nature is an enigmatic object, an object not entirely in front of us. Nature constitutes our ground, not what is in front of us, but what holds us. Maurice Merleau-Ponty La Nature; Notes , Cours du College de France, Paris: Editions du Seuil [1994]
3
4
However, recent ecological consequences have reached a crisis, revealing once again our interdependence with the land. This critical immediacy between landscape and building is the subject of NAR’s research — to understand how intimately architecture can be in- formed by its place by comparing four places of similar but unequal landscapes, with four similar but unequal legacies in building. Ireland, Norway, Iceland and Atlantic Canada share some supris- ing landscape alliances. Although Norway has steep mountain ranges and deep fjords, its habitable coastal lands strongly resemble the oth- ers. Each place is dominated by coastline, Iceland and Ireland as is- lands and Nova Scotia and Norway as peninsulas. The Atlantic Ocean tempers the environment of each, maintaining green landscapes of small valleys and hills interrupted by rock outcroppings and cliffs. It also informs the industry and culture of these regions. Subtle distinctions in form, built or unbuilt, the relationship to resources, climate and culture become manifest when studied through the discipline of drawing. When various research interests are brought to bear on the drawing project, from the relationship between perception, representation and design, to environmentally- driven focus on material resource management and use in architec- tural practice, a diversity of cultural, material and formal readings emerge. Excerpts from students’ notes demonstrate this vividly.
Cultural and personal backgrounds of the participants have en- riched these studies. Perceptual biases both influence the reading of the terrain under investigation, and recast one’s own culture in com- parison. Legacies of physical and cultural alteration to the landscape that come from inhabitation become not only explicit but also often poignant when coupled with the shared experiences of a cross-cul- tural research team. If limited only to the yearly exchange of ideas among students and staff, the project has value enough as it gives new insights into archi- tectural form, space making and cultural meanings. The final stage of work this past summer in Nova Scotia was not the end of the programme but rather an elaboration of its premise — the NAR Research Collaborative joined staff and students of Dalhou- sie University in their ongoing Design/Build project held annually in Cheticamp, Cape Breton. The building project, an approach to a previously completed theatre project [fig 7 & 8], was an extension of the drawing studies which had identified critical aspects of the timber building tradition of Nova Scotia, and allowed the team to experiment with this knowledge through building. The second phase of the NAR project will revisit the four countries, expanding its base of documentation and including built experiments.
on site review 17
15
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator