INHABITING UNSTABLE GROUND

Master thesis, 2019, KADK

How does one inhabit that which is unstable and in continuous transformation? And how could instability and natural forces be seen as co-authors of architecture, rather than risks to diminish? The project speculates on the uncertain future of Knolden – a small, seemingly unremarkable peninsula along the Danish coast. As sea-levels rise, Knolden will lose its connection to the mainland. A gradual islandification that questions the relationship between inhabitants and their environment.

Distancing itself from the conventional strive for stability (in coastlines, as well as in architecture), the project takes instability as a premise – even a desire. It speculates on a future where man-made and natural actors actively engage with each other; a hybrid formed over time, where their boundaries blur. Inhabitation becomes synanymous with mapping: through recording and probing of the ground, the ephemeral is recorded and manipulated. As Knolden gradually escapes the mainland, the landscape begins to change by man-made and natural forces. Architectural seeds are planted, creating and revealing things previously hidden or non-existent to future archeaologists and explorers.

IMAGES
1_casting concrete over the earth, conserving its top material and form long after the ground has transformed into something else.
2_placing large rocks to compress the earth over time, leaving compressed piles or pillars as the softer earth around disappears.
3_digging holes in the ground, to sit in or lie in. To feel the earth around you.
45_casting concrete over the earth, conserving its top material and form long after the ground has transformed into something else.
67_ramming earth into walls, preserving it in new ways to navigate throughout the landscape.
8_planting trees to form a grid and break up the soil.
9_Knolden, 2019 vs  2119. A gradual islandification.