SENSORIUM

a silent refuge in thuringian forest • bad liebenstein, Germany

Design adopts light and sound as the main factors of creating a sensory landscape of a reclusive environment. It utilizes the intensity and direction of light, navigating the mind into an immersive experience. The 4-storey building is designed as a sensory gradient, with each storey representing a different level and character of a stimuli. They offer varying ratios of exposure to the light, collective and individual immersion as well as openness and enclosure to the natural surroundings. The positioning on the site enables infrastructural access and is in the proximity of a Thuringian pilgrimage route. The construction consists of a grounded concrete monolith with a bearing vertical core in the centre and a hung self-supporting wooden skelet. The core is adopting various light-reflecting schemes carrying light to the enclosed underground floor.

‘The house of one hundred hearts and one hundred bodies in silence.’ — Le Corbusier on La Tourette

‘First take the light away and then add back only what you need.’ — James Turell