The British fens are a surprising piece of landscape where up till a couple of hundred years ago towns were pretty much islands sur- rounded by wetlands. For many centuries natural and manmade land- scape co-existent in harmony. The new visitors centre should reflect that long history of balance between man and nature. The visitor centre presented by this submission embraces the idea of being a manmade construction therefore does not seek to camouflage itself with the natural landscape, in some aspects due it it’s vertical nature it even proposes a relation of contrast with the landscape. It is designed as an icon but it does not pretend to be an alien landed in the fens. We see the iconic nature of the building as a functional requirement more than an egocentric gesture of architecture. The visitors centre should represent the presence of man in the landscape should echo those old villages that could be seen from a distance in the immensely flat horizon of the fens. When intervening in such an overwhelming natural scenario the architecture must go beyond formal and functional aspects and gener- ate a building that appeals to all senses a full experience inspired by the “genius luci” of the place. All places have a specific “genius luci”, also known as the soul of the place, true contextual architecture seek that relation of balance between nature and manmade, a building that belongs, new yes but it should also look that it has been always there.
Arrival view
image by Christopher Malheiros. Published on May 23, 2013.