Architecture at the End of the World

Standing in an open western grasslands stands a 60 foot Cairn memorializing the financiers of first transcontinental railroad. The Monument itself stands on the highest elevation of the original route, however, the significance of this Monument is not the achievement of the railroad but instead the contribution to a material shift which had influence on modern architecture.

Richardson was amoung the 'first proudly' American Architects who sought to create their own distinct style from European influence, later refered to as the Chicago school. The colonial nature of the American nation, as well as their art/architectural stylings, had primarily derived from the Old World. New World architects began to grow increasingly interested in exploring the material resources in the vast territory now easily accessible for settler claim.

The Cairn Monument utilizes local granite blocks which match the surrounding landscape and seeks to meld old world classical architecture with a vernacular material language. At the time there was an ongoing debate surrounding craft and industry, discovering a dynamic of merging the two became the next big movement in architecture. Following this usuage of new material language Richardson applied these theories to his Marshal Field Wholesale Store (1885-87) in Chicago: Old theories of design practice utilizing new technology and ideas. this cairn serves as such a precursor for the coming architectural stylings which inspired aspects of the Prairie School, Arts and Crafts Movement, and Internation style.

The barns are a commentary on the desertification of the Finnish Countryside. Each barn has been lifted to separate them from their original harmony with the ground.  Each appears to be slightly tilted to imply movement as if following a path in a search for other populace.

Built with the french odellio solar furnace, the facility was used for high-temperature material resistance tests via a large scale solar condenser.   Built- V. Zakharov, O. Taushnakov 1986

Architects: Ecosistema Urbano

These systems of large cylindrical constructs serve as a staple of urban recycling that contains nothing aside housing plants.  The installations form a unique pattern of urban air spaces with a collective of trees along a pedestrian traffic route.  The installations referred to as ‘air trees’ also serve as a public comfort zone, the photovoltaic panels that line the roofing provide a water vapor cooled system that decreased the temperature within the installations by up to 10 degrees celsius

A fascination with ruins of fallen empires takes us to this desolate region of steppes serving as a graveyard to nearly 500 nuclear tests.  Soviet testing began around 1949 and ended around the 1980′s, due to the intensely remote vicinity of the test site this region was largely unknown to outsiders until the advent of the satellite.  The irreversible damage done to this region is scorched in the earth, the few remaining Measurement towers which were once placed at varying distances from the epicentre of atomic bombs, are the only constructed evidence of man’s dark history in this region.  Over 60,000 people have died as a result of pollution from nuclear testing done in The Polygon as well as the irreversible damage done to the citizens living in proximity of these bombs.   Today the region south of the Irtysh river is still dotted with minor radiation pockets, although plenty of wildlife flourishes in the absence of intense human activity.  

Architect: Peter w. Sønderman, Louis Lunde, Tronde Hanson

Located in Longyearbyen on the remote island of Svalbard the Arctic circle; the seed vault stands as an isolated reminder towards the approaching devastations of a massive ecosystem extinction.  The Overall Function is about as simple as it is crucial: to provide a safe haven to the biodiversity of our planet. The vaults are placed about 125 meters deep inside of the blasted out shell of an arctic mountain, preserving the seeds for an estimated 2000 years. The seed vault is divided into 3 procedural segments: The Entrance, Airlock sealed Trolley tunnel, and 3 separate seed vaults.  Dyvke Sanne and Koro can be credited for the reflective prismatic glass sculptures which capture the low hanging rays of the arctic sun.