Dark Sky Visitor Centre: Experiential architecture in darkness

Bytyqi, Besjana ; Mikkelsen, Louise Bagge

4. term

Architecture, Master

2020

2020-05-28

233 pages

This project report constitutes the design of a Dark Sky Visitor Centre situated on the border between Nyord Salt Meadow and the moraine landscape at Nyord. This relation to the surrounding landscape is established through different views to the Nyord Salt Meadow and the moraine landscape from inside the building. This project takes its starting point in the themes: experiential architecture, tectonics, light pollution and Dark Sky, and through an integrated design process with a focus on the integration of aesthetical, functional and technical aspects the final design proposal is developed. The vision of this project is to establish a spiritual connection between the human and the universe through the architecture, because it for decades has been affected by the increased light pollution in the metropolis. The final design proposal is based on a combination of visible y-shaped columns that due to their form direct the eyes towards the sky. Thus the construction will be the element of staging the phenomenon Dark Sky and establishing the connection between the human and the starry sky through the skylights 6 7 defined between the construction elements. A variation of the columns and the distance between them provide different views of the starry sky and in interplay with the displacements in the building volume creates an interesting flow through the building with variating experience, allowing visitors to choose their own path of experience when moving around in the centre. Dark Sky is a phenomenon that must be experienced in darkness, which limits the sense of sight or directs it towards the sky, and therefore the other senses are addressed to help guide people through the centre and improve the experience of the stars through acoustics. Furthermore, this project aims to come up with the critical regionalism answer on the local architecture, so the new visitor centre still will be rooted in the site, while moving forward. This has been done through the innovation of the traditional gable roof found in the Nyord City and the purpose of different well-known materials, which together should create the wanted atmosphere and put a focus on Dark sky and the establishment of the connection between human and the universe through the architecture.

Dark Sky

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