Returning to nature
Returning to Nature was the winning proposal in the IKEAxH22 City Expo competition. The project explores how architecture can mediate a renewed relationship between humans and the natural world—a shift from innovation as technological progress toward innovation as introspection. For centuries, industrial and scientific advancement has transformed the planet faster than our capacity to understand our place within it. The result is a post-nature condition in which human activity permeates every ecological process.
The project proposes a ritual of reconnection. The participant begins by ascending a timber pathway that rises above the ground, offering an altered perspective of the landscape. Through height and movement, the act of walking becomes an awakening of the senses—a heightened encounter with the surrounding environment. The path culminates in a dwelling: a compact, pinecone-like structure entered through a hatch and experienced in darkness. Here, sight yields to sound, and the presence of nature is felt rather than seen. At dawn, the participant descends once more, symbolically reunited with the world below.
Constructed from standardized timber treated with natural oil, the modular system consists of path, bridge, and dwelling elements. Together, they form a tactile, adaptable architecture of humility and renewal—an invitation to return, both physically and spiritually, to nature.
