Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekten, the Norwegian firm behind some of Scandinavia’s most stunning structures, has designed a winding and weathered steel observation deck overlooking a quarry in Alsace, France. Chemin des Carrières, the Quarries’ Track, will cross an underdeveloped railway from Rosheim to Saint-Nabor, creating a lookout at the foot of Mont Sainte-Odile. The forgotten landscape will be enlivened by RRA’s subtle, structural piece of architecture.
The site, set in the northeast corner of the country, contains a rich history of industrial production and man’s exploitation of nature. From 1902 to 1988, the railway serviced production in the quarries and, later in the century, doubled as a passenger railway. The quarries closed in 2012. According to the architects, the 11-kilometer [7-mile] path they designed across the railway tells the story of the site split into four chapters that highlight different pieces of the landscape.
Boersch tells the story of water. Visitors enter the site and are immediately greeted by an enlarged riverbed, one of the continuous elements of the landscape. Two wooden structures cite the path’s beginning, acting as doors that mark the city entrance and shelter for travelers. A large open-space amphitheater also provides a connection to the water.
Leonardsau tells the story of the land. After a long path surrounded by trees, two massive corten steel blades suggest the end of the forest corridor and the beginning of the open landscape. The sculptural structures also serve as a gateway to the overlook.
Ottrott tells the story of travel. At the site of a former train station, the stop reveals the history of the railway through monumental construction objects like the balance, bridge, crane and pump. A fabric of housing buildings also connects historical elements and the landscape.
Saint-Nabor tells the story of luck. RRA looks to the quarries as a symbol of nature’s reconquest of a former industrial site. A promontory wrapped in corten steel offers a variety of unique views of the Rosheim valley and the plain of Alsace. The viewpoint is inspired by a four-leaf cover.
Well-known for their landscape projects, RRA often creates monolithic, curving structures that stand out boldly within their context. These designs are usually clad in a singular material, further dramatizing the project in relation to its surroundings. Walking through Selvika at a beach in Finnmark, visitors have the option of endless viewpoints from inside the concrete-cast maze. In the middle of a Danish fjord, RRA built a steel architectural installation that also allows for private observation over a hilly island.
RRA calls upon these same techniques with Chemin des Carrières but broadens them to tell the larger story of Alsace and its industrial past. The firm won an international design competition last October for this project and is expected to be completed by summer 2018.
Images Courtesy of Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekten
