Studio Morison

Mother Pavilion

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

MOTHER PAVILION

Studio Morison

ARCHITECTS
Studio Morison

CATEGORY
TEMPORARY INSTALLATIONS

LOCATION
WICKEN, UNITED KINGDOM

ENGINEERING
Artura

YEAR
2020

PHOTOGRAPHS
Charles Emerson

COUNTRY
United Kingdom

CONCEPT
Heather and Ivan Morison

CITY
Wicken

COMMISSIONERS
New Geographies, National Trust

FABRICATION / INSTALLATION
Studio Morison

FABRICATION & INSTALLATION
Studio Morison

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

Text description provided by architect.

MOTHER... is an artwork by artists Heather and Ivan Morison of Studio Morison that engages with the connections between the natural world and our mental health.

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

The work is inspired by writer Richard Mabey’s book ‘Nature Cure’, in which he recovers from severe depression through walking, watching and writing about the Eastern region’s beautiful and unexplored landscapes.

It has been commissioned by Cambridgeshire based Wysing Arts Centre as part of the region-wide arts commissioning programme, New Geographies, which aims to bring contemporary art to unexpected places in the East of England.

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

All locations for artworks were nominated by members of the public – in this case, Wicken Fen suggested for its “sublime peaty landscape”.

MOTHER... is a sculptural structure that has been created specifically for this important area of wild fenland.

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

MOTHER... references local building traditions, materials and architectural vernacular to root the structure in the landscape it is a part of.

The form is an interpretation of the remarkable hayricks once found dotting this countryside. The timber used in the framing was felled from the artists' own forest and milled by the artists at their workshops.

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson

The walls and roof are made from local straw, the thatching of which has been done in the traditional style by a master thatcher whose first job as an apprentice was to thatch a hayrick on this very site.

The work, with its deep entranceways, ceiling oculus, and high double-layered conical ceiling, is an architectural space to enter; re-framing visitors’ experience of the landscape of Wicken Fen, the sky, the light and the materials that surround them.

Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson


Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson
Mother Pavilion
© Charles Emerson


Mother Pavilion
Structural components
Mother Pavilion
Elevation, plan, plan section


Mother Pavilion
Diagram
Mother Pavilion
Diagram
Mother Pavilion
Diagram
Mother Pavilion
Diagram