This is a conceptual project inspired by a forest near Namur, next to the Meuse river in Belgium. The building was shaped around the trees already present on site, and the final result reminds of a clay vessel. The interior space is a transitional path that from the outside brings you indoor and shows different functions and meanings. Three main areas have been designed, which come from three actions that are developed on three different levels of intimacy.
The first level coincides with the action of crossing the threshold: the transition between the external and the internal. The second level is related to the action of welcoming, where a person meets other individuals. The third level of intimacy is equivalent to the action of collecting, which invites people to take some time to gather with themselves and focus on their thoughts.
The main material is raw earth, an ancient material whose use is increasingly widespread for its durability and sustainability; moreover, the selection of different symbolic objects contribute to redefine the space, creating both moments of pause and exchange. The building seems as if it came out of the ground - from the clay soil of this wild place, like a contemporary cave, which, hidden among the trees, tries to create a new way of conceiving the architectural entrance, a path that tells the life of the individual that lives beyond the threshold.
The project is the result of a deep reflection on the transformations of the "space of an entrance" in relation to the actions and behavior of humans.
The concept of the entrance has evolved over time, becoming a traversable space, able to change continuously with the passage of individuals and to adapt each time to different contexts and stories.
The space of an entrance is not just a door, a line or a sign leading from an interior to an exterior, but a real space with its own interiority that can be inhabited. The project analyzes the different possible actions that the individual can perform in such a space: crossing the threshold, creating a connection with the outside world, welcoming people, discussing, gathering, meditating on oneself. The project creates a fluid path capable of narrating the complexity of everyday life.
The 300 square meter area that was imposed as a limit by the competition rules, was used to create a kind of grid that we placed on the floor as the starting point of our concept.
