The project takes limestone as a clue to explore the intersection between geological time, historical memory and space. After different periods of extraction and deposition, Dunbar quarry becomes a composite landscape carrying multiple traces of time, with fossilised limestone and limestone quarry as the core elements of the site. Limestone is both a product of natural evolution and a witness to human activity; it is the intersection of change. Under the dynamic changes of Dunbar's coastline, and with human excavation activities, the quarry itself becomes a stack of memories.
The design starts from ‘the memory of limestone’ and deconstructs limestone under five keywords: time, memory, ecology, violence and restoration. The limestone is given a symbolic structural role, and the site's monumental potential is activated through spatial installations, topographical treatments and material reorganisation. The design responds to the silent nature of non-human materiality, reconfiguring the perceptual connection between humans and non-humans.
For humans, the space evokes a sense of relics, loss and the passage of time; for non-human organisms, the newly constructed micro-topography and material texture provide new habitats. The project constructs a narrative of co-existence in the landscape, allowing memory to continue to occur in a multi-species, multi-scale manner.
The intersection of limestone and geological history is this hollow fossil.
How did the trace fossils on the beach form?
Carboniferous (354-292 million years ago) The lycopod forests have left a series of ‘potholes’, where the trunks once stood.
The trace fossils on the beach are traces left by lycopod forests, disappearing forests that foreshadowed the movement of this sea and land and changes in sea level.
"Bringing us down to earth is the task of politics today." -- Bruno Latour. Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime (2018)
This plan guides the progressive evolution of Dunbar Quarry through three stages of staggered progression:
Stage 1, a monumental intervention on the theme of deconstructing limestone memories.
The second stage is a staged backfill, following the chronological sequence of excavation; layer by layer, the backfill also records time.
In the third stage, community participation is introduced to co-operate with the natural succession and to promote the reconstruction of the ecology and memory of the site.
The three stages are intertwined, shaping an open and living future landscape through continuous change.
Sequences
1. The original quarry
2. The fence preserves the original terrain
3. Land preparation
4. Plants
5. Facilities, roads, functional design
Mosses and lichens are the first ones in, and they usually grow first on bare rock or poor soil. Because they don't need a lot of nutrients, they can live on moisture in the air. This is the moss slurry method, It's a way to accelerate the growth of moss artificially. It's also an event for the local community to get involved in the ecological succession of the quarry.
