The Appalachian Trail Conservancy distributed a survey in 2015 that interviewed 782 thru-hikers illustrating why some people are afraid to hike; fear of wildlife, site conditions, injury, navigation, and strangers. This list can simply be summarized as “people are afraid of being vulnerable”, and are intimidated by the risk and mystery of the wilderness. I was fascinated by the idea of “vulnerable” spaces and that’s when I identified four architectural typologies that also incited feelings of insecurity. The program was then generated by pairing natural and architectural typologies that expose individuals to a vulnerable condition. There are various forms in which vulnerability manifests within a human being, but common signs may include disorientation, anxiety, paranoia and sometimes a loss of consciousness. After considering the apprehension associated with the typologies, I designed architectural interventions that target these concerns, counteract their effect, and allow you to safely explore uncharted territory.
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“She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain” is an adventure narrated from the perspective of a woman, hiking alone in the forest and exposing herself to vulnerable situations in pursuit of transformation. We follow her journey through collages that highlight key moments when she interacts with each intervention. Designing from her perspective emerged from an intuitive process where I evaluated the environmental stressors, then tailored the architecture to either exaggerate or suppress the emotional impact. This process resulted in a visualization tool that we can use to empathize with the hiker. The collages were essential when making decisions, and have revealed to me the visceral consequences resulting from decisions we make as architects.
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She begins at the base of the mountain, as she tries to keep the trailblazers in her peripheral. The morning fog is making it difficult to to stay on the trail. She squints ahead and sees a string of lights in the forest, and allows them to guide her off the trail when suddenly a pavilion appears. She walks towards the hum reverberating off the turns of the gondola, and sees a chair emerging in the distance.
In a leap of faith, she accepts the gesture, and allows the lift to escort her off her intended path. |
She takes the gondola back to the trail and resumes her hike when she encounters a river, intersecting her path.
Unable to cross, she continues along the riverbed, and discovers a waterfall. The rocks lead her up to a bridge where she crosses in front of the cascading falls. She makes it to the other side where she ducks into a cavity in the rock while she catches her breath. The opening continued into a staircase carved into the rock leading her up the side of the falls where she emerges in a passage nestled in the rock behind the waterfall. |
On her way up to the peak she notices an opening in the mountain. The entrance is lined by a glowing temple front that persuades her to continue deeper into the cave. As she explores the cavern, she looks above her where the ceiling is decorated in stalactites highlighted by chandeliers. The chandeliers guide her towards a grotto where she sits, surrounded by a halo of light.
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Here while she rests, she remembers the thrill of the gondola, and the ferocity of the waterfall she had discovered before, and grows eager to continue forward. She continues up the stairs and finds herself in a field of stalagmites. She takes a step forward and the floor beneath her illuminates, granting her the ability to navigate the labyrinth and continue on her path.
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She thought her journey was over when she reached the peak. Instead, she is confronted with two blades projecting over the cliff. Although she can’t see the end, she has adapted her response to uncertainty and chooses to explore her curiosity. She descends through the chute, and emerges on a cantilever above the valley.
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She reaches the edge where there is a panel on a fulcrum. She holds her breath and grips the panel as she extends herself freely over the valley. She paused here for a moment, as she found herself enchanted by the scene. Her heart is pounding as she stands back up, crosses through to the other side of the blade, and returns to a room carved into the cliffs edge.
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As she descends down the mountain, she reminisces on her adventure. She remembers the moments when she was afraid and persevered, when she found courage to overcome obstacles, and was able to adapt to the unexpected. When you hike, it feels as if you are stepping through a portal: time is warped, the scene and its characters are alive, and you allow your destiny to be defined by the spirit of your environment, the mountain.
Architecture does not control your fate; but by articulating the thresholds, cadence, enclosures, and views of your journey, it exaggerates your experience creating a lasting memory. And even deeper, it pushes personal boundaries, transforming emotional conditions into stable realities. Looking back, she may not remember the architecture, but she will be able to tell you when she looked vulnerability in the face and chose to be courageous instead. |