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monuments to nature.
Designed with the intent to complement nature by contrasting its delicacy with massiveness, fluidity with rigidity, and everchanging qualities with permanence, these Monuments To Nature act as a blank canvas for nature to grow, change, and weather for the rest of time. These monuments have an aim to outlast the human experience and survive well into a post-human future.
The monuments are dedicated to the three main principles of our environment: air, land, and water. Because of our tendencies to selfishly mistreat and destroy elements of nature for our benefit each of the three monuments consist of solid, two-foot-thick concrete walls. The narrative paradox created by designing monuments dedicated to nature hoping they act as a blank canvas yet still using an unnatural material serves to show that we as humans have still not found a way to design architecture that can resiliently and responsibly withstand nature’s forces while still using materials occurring naturally in our environment.
Lastly, one’s experience on site completes at the only formal ‘building’ where inside is a cantilevered gallery of some of nature’s most beautiful objects--each of which are behind glass or rope. This furthers the idea that the only time you can truly appreciate nature and be immersed in its beauty is when you are outside, not when it is curated. The light timber and polycarbonate construction of the gallery is meant to decay over the course of 15-30 years. Only the monuments to nature are designed to survive and withstand nature.Project team: Samuel Bager & Brennan Heyward.