Kemeri Swamp Pavilion
Competition, Shortlisted
Authors:
Mindaugas Arlauskas, Mantas Kitkauskas, Julija Vaitiekūnaitė, Gabrielius Varnelis
Date:
2018
Location:
Kemeri Bog, Latvia
Area:
250 m²
Type:
Public
Kemeri bog is a natural phenomenon and an important visiting attraction. A raised path stretching from the forest to the bog allows visitors to experience normally inaccessible natural landscape rich in undiscovered smells, sounds and colours. However, a strictly defined route forbids any detours and unique experience of the unstable surface of the bog itself.
Kemeri swamp pavilion design explores possibility for a visitor pavilion as an inclusive part of the whole route and as a tangible experience of instability. The main idea starts with an incision in the landscape that disturbs a defined road and marks a new threshold between the beginning and end of the route. Filled with porous gravel the site gains not only a visible but also a tangible experience where your feet start to sink. Within this new context, the pavilion appears as if floating and guiding the flow of visitors through.
An inclusive experience of the journey
To Begin
On the side along the road, the path is linked to the forest by the high and narrow passage creating a feeling of an intro. Along the corridor, a small exhibition about the bog is displayed in various glass booths that blur the boundary between the inside and the outside.
To Return
On the opposite side, the path reaches a hollow landscaped terrace. Enclosure and solitude are provided by the sloping roof and a slightly raised terrain. Openness and nearness resemble the bog and the terrace becomes a place to reflect upon the journey.
In the end; In Between; In the meantime,
the building operates between these two distinct spaces providing functions, warmness and light.
