This thesis is grounded in the importance of a connection between humans and the natural environment, and the importance of preserving and respecting natural landscapes. We investigate the restorative benefits of a connection to landscape, through both primary explorations on the island and subsequent research. The proposal consists of an archive, research fragment, bath house, desalination system, and an atmospheric sensorium that seeks to enhance our connection to the island landscape and preserve important aspects of its culture and history. This necessity for preservation is a direct response to the loss of landscape which is occurring on the Aran Islands.

The architecture is of the island and for the island.

The architecture embodies the island matter and form through its materials and systems, by working with the existing landscape form and reimagining how it is articulated. Through immersive experiences in the island’s matter and form, the users and visitors to these interventions might open a dialogue with their own matter and form, their mind and body, in order to benefit from restorative effects of the environment.

The more we connect to our landscapes and environments, the more likely we are to take care of and preserve them.