The Bartlett
Autumn Show 2023
Autumn Show 2023
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![The journey starts and ends at the ancient Blashenwell Quarry; one of Corfe’s primary quarries, transformed into a monumental landscape. Corfe aerie, at the peak of the quarry, offers viewpoints over Corfe Castle and the proceeding route.]()
![The Rock Centre is built on the remains of the labour traces, allowing one to view and read this historical stone up close. It serves as a memorial and a place of honour for the embodied energy sacrificed during the building of Corfe Castle.]()
![Locals have coexisted with the heritage of Corfe for centuries yet do not command the same respect. The Woodland Theatre and Silhouette Theatre highlight rights of locals using landscape as a tool for resolving conflicts between locals and visitors.]()
![Corfe Castle no longer exists as a physical structure but rather transformed into a larger-scale heritage landscape, preserving its influence and life energy in a more noticeable way and complying with inevitable processes of decay.]()
![Stones tumble down Corfe Hill into the landscape, propelled by natural or artificial forces, creating new landscape proposals. People no longer come to view the architecture, but to discover the whole landscape within a coherent historical narrative.]()
Boulder’s Return Journey - Bringing Cultural Value to the Abandoned Landscapes of Corfe Castle
Project details
Student
Ziyao (Jo) Wang
Programme
Design Studio
Design Studio 5
Year
2
Award
- Landscape Architecture Portfolio Prize
This project envisages an alternative future for Corfe Castle: in 2033 the National Trust will stop heritage maintenance and allow the irreversible erosion processes to occur on historic sites. Stone boulders of Corfe Castle will be used to connect the quarry (negative landscape) and the castle (positive architecture) through a boulder’s journey, thus reversing the 11th-century quarrying route, returning the historical stone back to nature.
Corfe Castle's cultural energy is dispersed across the landscape and stone from Corfe Castle is used to influence the existing landscape and create new habitats. A circular route and five highlight stops become a series of historical symbols, balancing cultural values of material extraction and consumption.
Over time the Castle is dissipated by forces of nature, leaving behind habitats created by the return journey of boulders, allowing the story of history to live on in the landscape. Visitors will no longer witness a frozen piece of mediaeval history but instead will be able to view the scars of extraction on the landscape, learn about the labour-intensive construction process, and re-align tourists with residents in preserving its heritage.
Outbound Journey: The Corfe's Quarries
The journey starts and ends at the ancient Blashenwell Quarry; one of Corfe’s primary quarries, transformed into a monumental landscape. Corfe aerie, at the peak of the quarry, offers viewpoints over Corfe Castle and the proceeding route.
Outbound Journey: The Rock Centre
The Rock Centre is built on the remains of the labour traces, allowing one to view and read this historical stone up close. It serves as a memorial and a place of honour for the embodied energy sacrificed during the building of Corfe Castle.
Outbound Journey: The Woodland Theatre and Silhouette Theatre
Locals have coexisted with the heritage of Corfe for centuries yet do not command the same respect. The Woodland Theatre and Silhouette Theatre highlight rights of locals using landscape as a tool for resolving conflicts between locals and visitors.
Outbound Journey: The Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle no longer exists as a physical structure but rather transformed into a larger-scale heritage landscape, preserving its influence and life energy in a more noticeable way and complying with inevitable processes of decay.
Return Journey: The Boulder's Return Journey
Stones tumble down Corfe Hill into the landscape, propelled by natural or artificial forces, creating new landscape proposals. People no longer come to view the architecture, but to discover the whole landscape within a coherent historical narrative.
The Bartlett
Autumn Show 2023
26 September – 6 October
Autumn Show 2023
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