Mootwingee Research Centre Part 1 Project 2007 Leonard Wong University of New South Wales | Australia Mootwingee National Park Research Station The idea seems almost absurd to build on this site. Heritage protected, delicate soil bed, searing outback sun and scarcity of water.No urban scale, no building regulations and no local complaints. What does one decide?Ten occupants, one roof, work, play, the individual and collective.How to create diversity within a collective program?Fractured spatial elements half sunk into the ground create a ‘ruins’ like environment creating a perpetual spatial experience from dark to light almost as if the occupants inhibit a found artefact building emerging from the ancient landscape. A red desert landscape "Mootwintji," two hours from the nearest town, has limited water,extremely high and low temperatures, difficult 4WD access and no services. Fragile, withalmost alpine vegetation it is of cultural (aboriginal) and physical significance.An architectural response is demanded: a research facility for the National Parks and WildlifeService. This project constructs a new horizon of activity at an aptly ambiguous scale,absorbing and reframing the physical limits of the program as opportunities.Disappearance and concentration are exploited as strategies of response to extreme limitsin an environment where the beginning of architecture is a question.