HOW DO I TELL A STORY?

Resurrection, well suited to its name, resurrects the Indigenous history of the Badlands National Park, in a notion to invite passerby's to simultaneously acknowledge their place in time, embed themselves into the rhythm of the terrain, and reenact a continuous cycle of deaths and rebirths. 

 

The Lakota, an Indigenous community and culture, dominated the Badlands region for hundreds of years. Contrary to popular Western belief of life as this, then that, the Lakota believe that life entails a continuous cycle of deaths and rebirths. An annual ceremony symbolizes this recognition, referred to as the “Sundance,” which features a series of tribe volunteers that hope to separate their bones from their bodies. In this objective, the volunteers die together, surrounded by community, in hope that upon their rebirth they will have enlightened past and future versions of themselves. The Lakota value a hierarchy of community over individuality, for community is critical in their survival. The Lakota orient their spirituality around environmental conditions such as the sun, wind, and cardinal direction. The “Medicine Wheel” designates North to health, East to beginning, South to community, and West to insight. In an effort to resurrect the meaning of the Lakota culture, this design roots its users in their most fundamental state: a creature of life. 

 

The user will awake embedded in the terrain, facing east, welcomed to their rebirth with the beginning of light. Were the user to remain in their individualized space, they may contemplate the passage of time as the sunlight passes through glass openings in the ceiling. Upon exit of their individualized space, the user will elevate to a communal pathway that traverses horizontally,  mimicking the topographical curvature of the landscape. This communal pathway dually paves opportunity for intersection with co-experiencers, and invites the user to adopt new perspectives. This horizontal traverse will intersect with a vertical circulation that, in plan, mimics the arc of the sun path. In this, Resurrection draws attentiveness to how the same light that greeted them to the day moves through its own journey through time. This vertical circulation at its highest elevation meets a final traverse that leads to a circular platform atop the communal living area.  The user has then the opportunity to step down to the interior communal area, where they can converse, nourish, and share their individual journeys. As the day comes to a close, the users may gather together atop the communal area to share the sunset: death. To close the cycle between death and rebirth, the user de-elevates into their accommodation. This penetration of the earth is interpreted as “an encounter with Earth’s primeval forces.” The user proceeds to rest on the western side of their dwelling, inviting insight before they awake again in new light.