Re-thinking the beach Part 1 Project 2003 Jemma Lynch Robert Gordon University | UK “Real public spaces create different kinds of urban experience. We deserve spaces in which we encounter otherness and sameness, where we are at once confirmed and challenged. Otherwise we too are erased from view, removed from the square, censored from ourselves, denied the right to the city and town. We need places which we do not know, which we do not understand, which we have not yet encountered, which is simultaneously strange, familiar and unknown to us. These are public spaces which are common to all of us, but always a surprise, unique places, a stimulation.”Iain Borden Re-thinking the beachIn the 1950’s Aberdeen’s title of the silver city with the golden sands epitomised its position as Scotland’s leading beach holiday resort, sparkling granite and lengthy sandy beaches made it an ideal location for a post war summer holiday. The popularity of the package holiday heralded a rethinking of our costal resorts. Jemma’s bold proposal draws its inspiration from the place, an inhabited pebble cast up on the beach which links the city to the sea and its future to the past. All year round enjoyment is brought to a place where the senses are challenged in a virtual experience which brings distant locations to life on a beautifully detailed stage, crafted in local materials.