Floating Threshold

The landscape of Åsen, on the Swedish island of Orust, exhibits a high degree of fragmentation due to the boundaries imposed by human actions and the enduring forces of nature over a long period of time. On the one hand, large portions of the land were cultivated for agricultural purposes. On the other hand, ice-sculpted landscapes, moraines, and wetlands are enclosed by naturally created stone grooves, channels, and ridges that retain information from the slow-moving glacial periods of the ice age.

Wetlands, with their diverse small bodies of water, hold significance in the Anthropocene. Such small bodies of water can be ecologically important if they provide a habitat for rare or endangered species. Human-scale rocks, shaped by past glacial movements, are collected by locals and used as boundaries and thresholds between lands owned by different individuals. Culturally created stone piles, on their own, have become shelters for non-human inhabitants and their potential predators, including birds and even the neighbouring ginger cat.

Taking a walk always involves moments of affective encounters. The unexpected nature of these encounters can make individuals more attuned to their surroundings, and their openness to intense emotional experiences increases. If this receptiveness reaches a certain threshold, it can lead to a qualitative shift or a transformation in the experience of nature. The more humble entities one follows, both humans and nonhumans, the more self-centred boundaries are reduced.

The architectural endeavour Floating Threshold is nestled between reality and imagination. It is an object acting as an instrument, tool, and medium that facilitates different forms of connection with diverse bodies of water and their networks. It proposes joy, playfulness, and openness towards the outside world where unexpectedness and more-than-human encounters become possible.