This project is part of the humid guild, originally consisting of the Emperor Dragonfly, Common Toad, and Grass Snake as our original guild members. Recognizing the importance of looking into the species food sources, when restoring natural habitats, we have expanded our guild to include species from both dry and forest networks. The Bumblebee, European Hedgehog, and Tawny Owl have been added as target species to create a diverse ecosystem resembling a food chain.For a better understanding of the animals, we researched the annual cycle of our guild members, acknowledging the significant influence of seasons: Winter prompts hibernation or torpor states so that the species require sheltering spaces, while summer marks their active period and reproductive phase. With the exception of the Common Frog, Hedgehog, and Tawny Owl, all animals are diurnal and thrive in the warmth of the sun.Our focus on site selection led us to explore bodies of water throughout Lausanne. We followed the Sorge, Chamberonne, and eventually arrived at the riparian zone of the lake, discovering a promising location in a park with the Roman ruins of Vidy. Especially the historic aspect of this site was really interesting to us. However, we came across a pond on this site, which appeared artificially constructed after a closer look, being entirely made of concrete toxic to our animals. Despite these concerns, we recognized the potential for improvement and found the overlapping of all three subnetworks on this particular site to be particularly captivating. This convergence creates a unique meeting spot where all of our target species cross.The historical timeline of the site reveals a complex evolution that spans centuries: The Romans conquered the area during the 1st century BC, disregarding the wildlife that inhabited the space before their arrival. Extensive excavation of ruins on this particular site commenced in the 1960s, unearthing the historical layers buried beneath. A decision was made to cover the ruins and construct concrete replicas on top, forming an archaeological promenade as an extension of the Lousanna museum. Concerns arose about the toxicity resulting from the museum’s interventions.In response, the space underwent a transformation into a park, loosing parts of its cultural representation values but enhancing the well-being of the local wildlife. However, certain toxic elements, such as a concrete pond, persisted. This led to a huge tension between the museum and the green space department of Lausanne. Our approach seeks to cover the heritage preservation as well as the ecological sustainability.
In our multifaceted project the primary objective is to improve the well-being of animals while providing a new perspective on an archaeological site and creating an educational space, while collecting data about the species on site. Our architectural intervention is about developing a mesh structures strategically placed across the site to serve as shelters for our selected species. Through extensive research, we’ve tailored these structures to meet the specific dimensions, preferred sheltering materials, and habitat requirements of the three animal subnetworks. Out of those properties we defined a lattice matrix, which got developed into mesh prototypes in the certain heights according to the subnetworks, which we then distributed on site. As collecting data about the site and the health of all the three subnetwork corridors is important to learn about and relevant for future developments in Lausanne as well as the future adaptation that might happen on site. We have decided to implement the function of monitoring to our sites.Passive sensors integrated into the mesh structures continuously collect quantitative data. Depending on the specific species within each subnetwork, we’ve chosen sonar sensors for humid, acoustic sensors for the dry, and infrared cameras for the forest species. Additionally, observation stations facilitate observation of animals and collecting qualitative information through the visitors on site, which strategically placed at varying heights getting the best possible outlook on all three subnetworks, providing visitors with a unique opportunity to view the surroundings from an animal’s perspective and the possibility to educate themselves about the urban wild life of Lausanne.The collection of date is contributing valuable insights about the health of the subnetwork corridors and for future developments in Lausanne, as well as future adaptations happening on site. The stations are connected with a defined path offering a great experience of understanding the roman space, while exploring areas of all three subnetworks with the stations as guiding points of interest.
Our fascination lies in the historical narrative of the ruins, once belonging to humans, particularly the Romans who conquered this site. Now, we envision reclaiming this space for animals, introducing a new perspective into this archaeological site. Our approach is about framing the former ruins as abstract volumes, offering visitors a better perception and tangible experience with ancient spaces while establishing a subtle threshold, that holds people off from stepping into spaces dedicated to the species. This is achieved by adding mesh structures to the corners of the former ruins. As the animation shows, adding corner fragments are enough for the human vision to understand the space and the volumes within. Over time, the mesh structures will organically become overgrown, creating a variety of shelter spaces for the diverse species inhabiting the site. To further accentuate the concept of creating volumes, we incorporate landscaping techniques, elevating certain areas within the ruins as well as densifying the vegetation in these areas. The choice of vegetation is based on research being done on the local or noninvasive and climate resitant vegetation of all subnetworks, as well as the information of the “plan climate” exhibition of Lausanne and an exhibition of the botanical garden of Lausanne about “Atlas – La flora vaudoise d’hier à aujourd’hui”. This not only enhances the understanding of the ancient spaces but also facilitates improved circulation for the animals within their core subnetwork zones, as the landscaping is flowing even over the ruins in these areas. The soil extracted during the pond excavation is distributed across the site, contributing to the topographical variations. The pond itself plays a crucial role in our landscaping strategy. We prioritize increasing its inflow, size and adapting the riparian zones to serve specifically to the needs of our target species. This involves adding shallow areas and densely vegetated spaces that are intentionally inaccessible to humans, creating a tailored environment for the subnetworks and in this case especially the humid species to thrive. The observation stations are accessible by a path through leading in between the abstract volumes resembling the former ruins. They act as an elements integrated into the landscape to create encounter spaces for the visitors to explore the site from an animals perspective without disturbing the animals. The stations offer educational information about the subnetworks, a possibility to access the sensors to learn about the current data being collected, digital and analog options to collect data themselves, as well as seating areas. As we found out in discussion with the curator of the museum of Lousanna, that many elements like benches or even the transformation into an extension of the museum led to a higher toxicity on site. Therefore we decided to use natural and animals friendly materials like rammed earth, wood and cork. Our overall goal is the sonder revival of the site: By bringing a new perspective into this archeological site, while not just creating respect for the wildlife in Lausanne, but also acknowledging their lives just as vivid and complex as your own. It’s about coexisting and benefitting from each other. As we are providing them with sheltering and undisturbed spaces, our perception of the historic site becomes clearer, as the mesh gets inhabited over time. We get to collect data, which can be used to adapt the space to serve the needs of the animals even better.