Lost Landscapes, Diploma Projekt KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm.
This project takes place in the area around Gotland´s largest lake, Bästeträsk in the northern part of the island.
The conditions that define this place have been shaped over an immeasurably long span of geological time. The ground reveals exposed limestone bedrock, and beneath the surface lie the fossilized remains of shells and marine creatures that lived here 400 million years ago, when the climate was tropical.
Today, the site is characterized by a combination of natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and large-scale limestone extraction. The area holds national interest for nature conservation, outdoor recreation, cultural heritage, and the presence of valuable raw materials. A preliminary study for the establishment of a national park began two years ago, and within a few years, the area may become one of Sweden’s new national parks.
The building I propose is situated precisely on the boundary between what is untouched and worthy of preservation, and what is industrial and transformed. The program for the building centers on observation – both of the ongoing industrial transformation of the landscape, and of the slower, natural processes of change. The latter begins the moment the pumps of the limestone industry are shut off and groundwater, moving slowly through the bedrock, begins to fill the quarry. Over a period of 30 years, the site will gradually be transformed into an inland lake.
The program consists of overnight accommodation. All public areas face the 55-hectare quarry. The building itself takes the form of a box, 45 metres long and 10 metres wide, inserted into the rock. Beneath it lies a sloping passage that leads down into the quarry.
We seldom pause to reflect on the origins of the materials that make up the built environment around us. These materials are drawn from real, physical landscapes.