In place: An exploration of the relation between architecture and the place defining elements of a nature environment

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the experience of nature environment in relation to architecture, and how the two may enhance one another. With the city of Gothenburg as point of departure, a locally characteristic context acts testbed to explore the place defining elements and qualities of a nature environment, how it is perceived, and how architecture may act as an agent within this perception of the place. The area for investigation through this thesis is Galterö, an island located in the outskirts of Gothenburg southern archipelago. Various techniques of mapping and recording are used to gain an understanding of the different present layers of the site and the elements defining the place. In contrast to more conventional mappings of urban contexts, this thesis explores mapping as a tool to decode and interpret a rural landscape. The notion of situated knowledge of the place is relevant in relation to the outcome from these exercises, and in the further process of architectural design on Galterö. Experience of nature environments is very much about being present and being in direct contact with the place and the elements. Hence, the mapping methods used are dependent on physical presence and my own perceptions as moving my body through the landscape. This value in physical contact with the site is recurring through different phases of the process, such as in model making, program formulation etc. In Place is synthesized as a proposed architectural intervention at the very western point of Galterö, called Galterö huvud. The architecture manifests the site as a culminating situation of the journey through the landscapes of Galterö. It recognizes the experience of nature environments as an act with high value in physical presence where the sense of disconnectivity from urbanity is a key aspect. Formulating architecture in relation to this circumstance, two contrasting, yet relating, structures are suggested on the site. An oceanspace, hovering at the edge of the landscape – a shelter that exposes you. And a refuge on the shore, merged into the landscape – a shelter that actually shelters you.