MAUSOLEUM OF MASS

​

The Mausoleum of Mass bids a necessary but mournful farewell to the use of concrete in construction.   Necessary - if we are to act to mitigate the climate crisis.  Mournful - what else can provide the sensuous quality of cast monolithic mass as concrete in all its varied beauty can?

​

The Winnipeg winter offers water as a ceremonial stand-in:  We proposed to cast a hut with massive piers in ice - gradually layered up to allow a lightweight formwork from timber sheets.   On striking the cast, the formwork is reused as a roof sheltering the internal space, and a broken pediment pointing North.   A single standard concrete paver is embedded into the snow at the centre.

 

Each pier contains a slender log column, supporting the roof as the ice melts and is worn away with use.   The melting of the mass of ice in spring reveals the lightweight primitive hut structure inside - a ritual rebirth of timber as the new/old material of the ecological vanguard.

​

An unbuilt competition entry.