Immersive Migration

CONCEPT

The project aims to stage a poetic meeting of the animals and visitors of the Serengeti and on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. The design proposal focuses on curating this long-existing interaction between these two “users”.

The project responds to the premise that people travel to nature reserves in order to feel a deeper, more tangible connection with the natural environment. Visitors travel to the Serengeti National Park to observe and explore what nature offers. They are curious about the look, the feel and the sound of the beautiful creatures residing within such a protected area. Likewise, the animals become curious when they see people, perhaps even drawing closer to get a better look.

Through the analysis of programmatic and user patterns of nature reserves, and the traditional ways in which people and animals have interacted in such spaces; one common trait was identified; Curiosity.

This interchange of curiosity presented an opportunity to explore and expand on a ‘hide-and-seek’ type interaction. For the animals; a typical day includes hunting, searching, discovering. This can be packaged as an engagement of hiding and seeking. Similarly, the visitors, as part of their visit’s experience, partake in activities that involve hiding and seeking. This concept is then used as a design informant.

Beyond this curious interaction, the intervention attempts to capture the essence of the Serengeti by creating moments that mirror those of which occur daily, seasonally and annually. 

CAPTURING POETIC MOMENTS 

Annually, many animals in the reserve migrate, moving north in search for new food and water sources and eventually return to their initial territory. This migration pattern; both in its finer detail and overall process was identified as a poetic moment. For example, the mass movement of the buffalo is a fascinating dialogue of movement in unison, structure and order. From the observer’s eye, this powerful event in its larger form displays pure and unique beauty.

Seasonally; the landscape changes, creating various scenic moments within the Serengeti. Changes in temperatures and rainfall can pose scenes of lush green grass, warm temperatures and births of new animals, or others of cooler temperatures, dry plains and hazy views.

All of these scenes present a mixture of colour, form, emotion and movement, creating a series of moments that are captured in the user experience within his/her journey through the design intervention.

Daily; the animals practice various rituals, such as drinking water from water holes, foraging for food, or exploring their environment. The design proposal makes reference to these daily rituals; creating a narrative of journeying through a space towards a point (lookout point) of refuge, refreshment, discovery. 

DESIGN INTERVENTION

The design intervention combines the tangible and the intangible aspects discussed earlier. The proposal consists of a submerging walkway that begins with a convening space, leads to a lookout point and ends with a return journey through an open-air walkway. The idea of hiding and seeking is carried out into how the proposal sits in the landscape. This green-roofed walkway progressively submerges into the ground, giving visitors a hidden perspective as they journey through the intervention, sit in the lookout space overlooking the crater, and progressively walk out through a series ‘doors’.

The user is led through a series of spatial experiences that capture moments found in the Serengeti. From the peace and serenity felt in the grasslands at dawn (which is emulated in the lookout area), to the explorative journey through the reserve (which the long walk through the submerging walkway makes reference to). Lighting is also used as a tool to convey the mood in the covered walkway portion. Openings are placed on both sides of the walkway, creating a seamless stream of light that guides the eye to the endpoint.

DETAIL AND MATERIALITY

Beyond just contextual appropriateness, the choice of material centered again, around capturing the essence of the Serengeti in the proposed spaces. Rammed earth was chosen for the walls. The colour palette of this continuous wall as one walks through this space sources the spirit of Serengeti on a dry and dusty day. The subtle lines running horizontally, draw the user through the space towards the lookout point. 

As a sturdy, supplementary material, and to break monotony, concrete is used for the roof and floor, as well as the lookout space. This space is designed with the intention of creating a sanctuary of reflection, refreshment and a lookout point onto the crater. 

The final material; timber, is used in the smaller elements such as the balustrade in the lookout area and the “portals” as one exits the space, making their way back to the start point. These portals are placed to frame the views on the return journey, allowing visitors to seek out their exit, yet be hidden in certain points. These timber portals are designed in a way that communicates the regression of an exiting journey.

PROGRAM/NARRATIVE

The user experience begins on the existing road, which for economic utilization of space; will also function as a parking /drop-off point. The visitors will make their way to convene at the starting point, and begin the journey into the covered walkway that progressively submerges towards the end; the lookout space. The visitors then walk back through the other open-air walkway to the start point again, perhaps reconvening and enjoying lunch and then making their way back to the road.