Rifting Lands

Participants were tasked with submitting proposals for an observation point accommodating a small visitor center next to Grjotagja in Iceland, a unique site defined by a several meters wide fissure which expresses the diverging plate boundary between North America and Eurasia.

Rifting Lands design is drawn from its context, circulating both experientially and physically through continuity and division. This duality is formally expressed and gives the building a strong identity as a landmark, perceivable already from far away. While drawn from the inherent characteristics of the site, the tower lets itself stand apart, becoming a decidedly man-made intervention rising out of the landscape.