Lookout Spike

Design of buildings in the landscape is a separate architectural discipline. These are built against a backdrop of dense forests, fog, clouds and hills. One works with on the scale of anthills, as well as entire landscapes, and the only real and lasting context is the starry sky.

The Lookout Spike is a part of a series of five lookouts that we have completed over the last ten years. This concludes a decade of our exploration into building in the great outdoors, one of our studio’s fields of interest. The diversity of the individual concepts stems from the different approaches to each site, making the series a showcase of architectural forms, always based on a careful analysis of the site and the rationale behind each design.

The lookout stands on the top rock of Malý Špičák and looks down into the valley of the confluence of the Desná and Kamenice rivers. The Tanvald bobsleigh track used to start here, an important point of sporting activity in its own time. The remains of the bobsled track in the slope of Malý Špičák indicate its former route. In a way, Špička also serves as tribute to the regional heroes in tight overalls, who fearlessly rode their shiny bobsleds into steep turns in a desire to cut every second off their time.

Cílem návrhu bylo vytvořit drobnou, ale výraznou architekturu. Stavbu jemnou a neuchopitelnou jako kapka rosy, která se skály sotva dotýká. Vyhlídka má tři tenké ocelové nohy a lesklý břich, ve kterém se zrcadlí žula, stromy, lidé a nebe. Vyhlídková plošina, přístupná po žebříku, otevírá výhled na Tanvald a okolní hory. Zrcadlený obraz na zakřiveném povrchu pod je deformovaný, barvy a odlesky se kroutí a mísí. Zážitek z pohledu na stavbu tak nikdy není stejný. Obrazy okamžiku protékají očima návštěvníka jako řeky nekonečné pomíjivosti.