Discovered artifacts in the forest. A photo series about the ›camps‹ (›forts‹, ›dens‹?) that children build in the woods. We often look at these structures with a patronizing perspective1, which this project explicitly seeks to avoid. Rather, this photo series is intended to interpret these buildings as concretizations of the Vitruvian idea of Primitive Huts2. These findings I encounter during my forays in the forest as well as Vitruv’s concept are examples of archaic architecture. Both share a simple, functional design that meets basic human needs for shelter as well as exploration and thus unfold a pristine beauty of their own.
Research article available
If you are interested about the relationship between the Vitruvian Primitive Hut and proto-architecture that can be found in the child camps have look at my research article that I published in Urban Eidos 5 (Open Access) here. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.62582/UE5002p)
Note: The places where these huts can be found remain undisclosed. I see myself as a pure ›flâneur‹, exclusively documenting the places I visit without altering anything about the structures or their surroundings (›leave no trace‹). Accordingly, this ongoing project has purely documentary/ethnographic character and does not pursue any photo-aesthetic claims whatsoever.
to be continued…
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Annette, Henrike, Tom, Roland, Evi, Simon, Laura and Till for their support in the spot-hunting process.