Borgharen, The Netherlands /2019
school project/ master of interior architecture/
Academy of Architecture Maastricht
school project/ master of interior architecture/
Academy of Architecture Maastricht
BIRDWATCHER'S HUT
The project area is a water landscape on the banks of the River Maas, between Borgharen (the Netherlands) and Smeermaas (Belgium). This landscape can change every day and the borders between land and water are never stable because this zone is a flood area of the river.
It is protected as such by Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), with actual urgency due to the facts of climate change.
It is protected as such by Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), with actual urgency due to the facts of climate change.
- The next few days a bird's migration period is about to begin. I should stay in a bird watcher hut for a couple of days to make a statistical analysis of the beginning of the season.
- I'm cycling right to the Borghren township, where I usually get more food and water if I have to stay for a longer period. But I'm not gonna stay in the village, surrounded by people. I'm going to live in nature, rarely reachable by the locals, and flooded with birds and local animals.
- As soon as I reach that remote spot, I park my bike nearby the pile of dry wood I stored for the colder nights. I get into the hut, put some flowers I gathered around in a vase to bring some life into space where I have to stay alone. I take some rest and wait until the birds will completely forget about the disturbance of my arrival. I go to the roof and begin observing the landscape without any of my tools or purposes but with a cup of tea, which helps me to get ready for further hours of deep concentration.