[ruin]ed.
summer 2020
Competition
Bee Breeders | Vale de Moses Meditation Cabin
with Jonathan Bonezzi
vale de moses, portugal
program: yoga + massage cabin
idea _ “If the isolated ruin, made picturesque by its place in the landscape and the accommodation it seems to have reached with encroaching nature {...} has equally been an object for ruin lust.”
- Brian Dillon Ruin Lust
The concept of the ruin in the landscape has been a predominate motif since the age of the Romans and the Greeks. However, in contemporary architectural discourse, and the public as a whole, there has been a resurgence for the sublime; the picturesque depictions of ruins that were once antiquated and associated with decay, because become symbols for the preservation and balance of the natural/synthetic worlds. This is largely due to the allure of the unknowable qualities that are inherent to the ruin. Their ability to be strange objects in the landscape, provokes our imaginations to further uncover these mysterious objects. In this context, we looked to utilize these ideas, and more predominantly the sublime, picturesque image of the ruin to evoke a modern day reconstruction. A truly strange object, simultaneously old and new, built and decaying, clean and irresolute. [ruin]ed is a precarious primitive perched on or in the Portuguese landscape.
project _ The project looked to utilize digital and traditional techniques in its design and construction. In the conception and creation of the ceramic tiled facade, inspiration was found in the tradition blue tiled facades native to Portugal, here with cabin adorned with a digitally irresolute; modern interpretation of the azulejos facades found on many older buildings throughout the country. Combined with contemporary SIP panel construction, water reclamation and harvesting, solar energy systems, low voltage lighting, clever day lighting techniques and passive cooling techniques, this mysterious ruin is both old and new at once. A paradoxical object, sitting in the landscape, aimed at inviting and evoking the curiosity of onlookers ,enticing them to become visitors.
