ARQUITECTUM is “pleased to invite all architects from around the world to participate in the Idea Contest ‘NAZCA 2005′. We are looking for the best design proposals to create a next generation observatory which renovates the vision of tourism in the area and also invites the visitor to enjoy a new and different experience, by spending the night and awakening in front of the Nazca Plains.
The contest’s challenge is to give architectural shape to an element that, while intruding in a desert environment, is able to respect it without having to submit to it. In this sense it is important that the proposal emphasizes contemporary notions of interventions in deserts or areas of ‘zero context’, where any element can, just through their mere presence, alter any experiential perception of the place.
ARQUITECTUM’s desire to organize this contest of ideas stems from the need to recreate a new type of lodge. A new design is needed, one that stays away from the folk resort or themed hotel models. A design that with originality and creativity uses more contemporary visions to ‘celebrate’ the natural setting before trying to ‘distract’ from it with its structures.
The structure should be a sculptured and harmonic object, powerful yet gentle, monumental yet serene. In sum: it should appear as if the structure, through its close rapport with the landscape, had always been hidden from our sight and that through some extraordinary event had just been recently discovered.
The Observatory-Lodge is meant to be a new worldwide prototype model of lodge housing, its main purpose being the enjoyment of the landscape and environment, not the level of comfort it brings. Within this scheme, the refuge is more a place to be, rather than a place to be in: of enjoyment of the context before the enjoyment of the infrastructure. In this way the environment is freed of excessive contaminating residues produced by the heavy rotation of visitors. Higher value is placed on the temporary and active experiencing of the event itself (observation of the sacred Nazca lines) rather than on the efficiency and complexity that the installations may offer for a longer term stay.”
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