Room to think
To achieve an environment that provides the conditions for contemplation, the building in this project is inspired by phenomena in nature. Most people feel peaceful when spending time in nature. One reason to that is that nature is full of soft fascinations, and that is things that only require effortless attention. One can divide attention into directed and effortless. The directed is very energy consuming and is the one we use most often in our modern society. The effortless attention, on the other hand, requires a minimum of energy and is the one we use when we watch a light play in the forest or hear the sound of a stream. When spending time in an environment with soft fascinations, and away from our daily routines, we may have a chance to reflect and explore new thoughts.
The first soft fascination are these light spots, and they are used as inspiration for the light in my building. If you walk in a spruce forest on a sunny day you will find a few of these. The light starts from one point and fades out among the trees. The contrast between light and dark is big so they really catch your attention.
The light spots create an inviting light that you want to follow to see where it leads you. If you see a light spot from a distance and follow the light, you might find a nice place, maybe with some water reflecting the light.
The second soft fascination I have worked with is the forest stream. One ingredient to a contemplative space is to increase or decrease certain visual, tactile or aural qualities. And for this I think water is a very good element to work with. Because the presence of water reduces stress, increases feelings of tranquility and lowers heart rate and blood pressure. And the benefits from the water increase if you can both see, hear and touch the water, so I have worked with all these three things.