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Walsingham Hostel

Part 1 Project 2003
Jessica Reynolds
Klas Hyllen
 University of Cambridge | UK
The journey to Walsingham is explored as a mapping of traces on the existing topography, prompting a new sequence of thresholds to the village. Reflections of clouds, landscape, and pilgrims are momentarily gathered in the water that threads its way through the courtyards of a hostel below laundry dancing in the wind. The white sheets become a metaphor in an agenda of sustainability and renewal. While the drying sheets recall the fragility and expansiveness of the Norfolk landscape and skies, creases in sheets indicate traces of guests. Every day, these traces are erased, the sheets refolded, a new journey begun.


Woven carefully into the bizarre setting of Walsingham, North Norfolk, the project examines issues of contemporary pilgrimage. It responds to the fragments of the historic environment while outlining a sustainable strategy for connecting Walsingham to the surrounding landscape. A new Farmers Marketplace and place of exchange/bank are proposed, together with the integration of a large hostel within the existing fabric of a listed and derelict eighteenth century prison. Through manipulation and celebration of the everyday humdrum activities of washing and cleaning the hostel provides a counterpoint to the solace and hardships encountered in the Norfolk landscape.
Tutor(s)
Dr Faozi Ujam
2003
Weaving paths to Walsingham: landscape strategy
Views of bank intervention: a threshold to the village
the market square links the hostel and the bank intervention
The hostel is a topography of wet and dry, clean and unclean territories: floor plans
Views of arrival at the hostel
Ritual uncleanliness: a water sequence shown in a section
Model of hostel showing relationship to market square and bank intervention
Illustrations of the journey from the reception pavilion to the individual guest-rooms via stairs and walkways
Inhabiting the guest-room: moving louvres and weathering materials
A travelogue: a recorded journey that unfolds and frames views
Cleaning: view of a sunken laundry room that lies at the heart of the hostel
Drying: views of white sheets drying in the central courtyard on fragmented laundry lines
Pressing: creases in the sheets are erased in a process of constant renewal
Traces of water: a bathing area looks out onto a hostel courtyard
• Page Hits: 4297         • Entry Date: 07 July 2003         • Last Update: 07 July 2003