Blackwood

Drawing inspiration from Algernon Blackwood’s short story ,,Ancient lights,, , which is set in the swamplands and bogs of the western British countryside, the project reminisces of old English country estates seen through the eyes of folklore and magic. 

Algernon Blackwood is a 20th century Scottish author, mostly known for his ,,weird tales,, (contemporarily considered horror stories). His fiction work takes inspiration from mythology and folklore of the region and its connection to the psyche and the magical world.

,,My fundamental interest, I suppose, is signs and proofs of other powers that lie hidden in us all; the extension, in other words, of human faculty. So many of my stories, therefore, deal with extension of consciousness; speculative and imaginative treatment of possibilities outside our normal range of consciousness.,,

-Algernon Blackwood

Through history, swamps have been inspirations for countless folklore stories. From demonic creatures leading you into the swamp to leave you stranded, to mysterious lights believed to be omens of death, swamps have a very rich history of provoking mystical experiences.

The educational center will be a space preserving the heritage of these stories and teaching the importance of connecting to the myths of the past.

The building itself is a decostruction of the classic English country estate. Using simplified motifs that were consistent in the architecture of the 19th century victorian house, we get a sense of the past, but through a modern lens the ornamentation is stripped, leaving a slightly uncanny structure.

Within the center there are a variety of exhibition spaces presenting a collection of folk and mythological tales. A presentation hall for hosting speaking events and lectures concerning the study of folklore, mythology, history and related topics. Other than the presentational and multifunctional spaces, there are leisure spaces including a cafe, reading spaces and game rooms which bring you closer to the culture of the regions past through the ambiance and activities.

On the secound floor (attic) there are three distinctive exibition spaces dedicated to three time periods in English culture whitch all have their different stories to tell. The three spaces are an impresionistic evocation of the time period they represent. By being sorounded by the symbols and sigils of a time period you might better understand the stories tied to them.

The three periods that are ephasized are:

-Faeries and beasts of the old germanic, celtic and pagan era

Since the times of the celts and romans tales were told of beasts and heroes. These stories stay in a peoples blood mutch longer than any modern history or knowledge. Many of the creaturest that were spoken about in these old times still live in the stories that we tell today. From fairies and dragons to dwarves and ogres these magical creatures still walk among us today but their origins are mutch older than we realise.

-The legends of king Arthur and of medieval knights

King Artur, the most famous king of Britain that never was. The themes, events and characters of the Arthurian legend vary widely from text to text, and there is no one canonical version. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed, until it experienced a major resurgence in the 19th century. These tales spoke of bravery and hardship and kept within a mesage of knightly virtue. 

-The Victorian period and the industrial revolution

A higly impactfull period for Great Brittain and the whole world. The industial revolution birthed numerous cultural offsprings sutch as stempunk and notable writers and characters sutch as Marry Shelly and Sherlock Holmes. Stepping out of the forrest and the fortress of the previous periods. We now find ourselves in an industrial city full of smoke. But dont worry there is no shortage of ghost, witches and beastly hounds and ominous killers running around.

Coming to the swamp site, there is a platform guiding you over the swamp and through a few pavilions that tell the stories that are closely tied to the swamplands. After venturing through these stories, you are set on a night tour through the surrounding woods, hopefully bringing you closer to the stories and the nature that inspired them.

,,My temple is the swamp… When I would recreate myself, I seek the darkest wood, the thickest and most impenetrable and to the citizen, most dismal, swamp. I enter a swamp as a sacred place, a sanctum sanctorum… I seemed to have reached a new world, so wild a place…far away from human society. What’s the need of visiting far-off mountains and bogs, if a half-hour’s walk will carry me into such wildness and novelty.”

-Henry David Thoreau