Diploma 2015: "Dislocated, is nature" by Maya Ito

Finding place in the Bergen mountains

Bergen is a coastal town surrounded by its famed seven mountains. The city crowds right up to the edge of the fjord but as it approaches the mountains, the built environment slowly fades away and the mountains are preserved in a more ‘natural’ state. These seven mountains, although largely a part of the city are reserved for recreation and friluftsliv, the prevalent Norwegian concept for outdoor life. In Bergen, the mountains are both a tourist attraction and a source of pride for the people; they are a well-used playground for weekend hikes and everyday training.

The landscape, it already exists; it is diverse, empathetic, dynamic and carries in itself a strong sense of place. Insert people and they are a vehicle to perceive and interpret the landscape; they have the ability to change the value of the surrounding nature.

This project aims to create a shift in how people interact with the nature in their backyard. Three sites are chosen across the Vidden plateau; they are marked within a 200 meter diameter circle by dislocated objects. These dislocators place a different kind of value on the already unique and spatial landscapes, challenging people who come across them to see the nature around them with a different focus. These mountains are heavily hiked and trained on already, but the emphasis in these activities is to travel across, push your body, breathe in and see the views. What about stopping in the landscape, getting to know the nuances in texture of the ground, the changing sound of small streams, the feeling of moss under your fingertips? Outward views are greatly appreciated but what about looking inwardly?

These dislocators act to define an area of exploration and bring people in; the rest of the experience is determined by each person or group of people. These dislocators stand to encourage a deeper development of the relationship between people and landscape.

Each site is arranged within a different logic according to the preexisting conditions of the landscape. The three methods of approach are: 1) perimetral, 2) central, 3) radial. The dislocators are built from white bricks; each brick has been dislocated yet they are easy to transport and build into these coherent forms. They should be like rocks: implanted and growing from the earth yet contrasting, their forms shown depending on the lines of land. Heavy and lasting they will change and evolve through the seasons and through time, eventually settling into their own place as ruins.

01 - Map of trails and potential sites across Vidden