加利福尼亚州阿雷纳点的 “更好的地方森林 “的游客中心位于一个树木繁茂的山峰上，可以看到下面的草地，它标志着游客进入森林纪念林的旅程的起点。更好的地方森林 “提供了一个可持续的墓地替代方案。在这些受保护的森林中，家庭选择树木来标记他们将把他们所爱的人的骨灰世世代代撒在这里。这个概念具有简单的诗意–融合了仪式、纪念和森林保护–但它的实现涉及一个由景观建筑师弗莱彻工作室领导的大型设计和技术专家团队。坐落在门多西诺海岸的40英亩土地上，Better Place Forests的Point Arena位置为未来的场地建立了一个框架，每个场地都有自己独特的品质。
Located on the crest of a wooded rise, framing a view towards the meadow below, the visitor center for Better Place Forests in Point Arena, California marks the threshold of the visitors’ journey into the forest’s memorial groves. Better Places Forests offers a sustainable alternative to cemeteries. Within these protected forests, families choose trees to mark the place where they’ll spread their loved ones’ ashes over generations. The concept has simple poetry—merging ritual, memorial, and forest conservation—yet its realization involved a large team of design and technical specialists, led by Fletcher Studio, landscape architects. Located on a 40-acre stretch of the Mendocino Coast, Better Place Forests’ Point Arena location establishes a framework for future sites, each with its own unique qualities.
这种体验的设计在更大程度上围绕着周围的土地，而不是它的建筑元素。场地和建筑轻轻地框定了一连串的事件–到达、定位、记忆、门槛和释放。一条入口道路进入场地，到达游客中心。坐落在山顶上的这座独特的建筑是公共和私人之间的一个定位场所。
The design of the experience centers to a greater extent around the surrounding land than its constructed elements. The site and architecture gently frame a sequence of events—arrival, orientation, memory, threshold, and release. An entry road descends into the site and arrives at the visitor center. Sited at the crest of a hill, this singular building is a place of orientation on the threshold between public and private.
游客中心是20英亩土地上唯一的建筑，包括两个小会议室、一个洗手间和一个工作人员房间。有顶棚的平台为小型团体提供了举行非正式仪式的机会，而眺望台则为游客提供了森林和草地的全景视野。
The visitor center—the only building on the 20-acre site—contains two small meeting rooms, a restroom, and a staff room. The covered deck provides opportunities for small groups to gather for informal ceremonies while the overlook offers visitors a panoramic view of the forest and the meadow beyond.
设计的目标是创造一个明确的门槛–使森林边缘的字面和形象的过渡变得明确。建筑物设置在山坡上的桥墩上，分隔结构的通道将游客从地面直接带入树冠。折叠的屋顶拉过楼板，提供深的悬垂以遮蔽和保护甲板，而红木翅片为会议室提供了隐私。
The goal of the design is to create a definitive threshold—to make explicit the transition, literal and figurative, at the edge of the forest. The building is set above the hillside on piers, and the pathway that divides the structure brings the visitor from the ground directly up into the tree canopy. The folded roof pulls past the floor plate, providing deep overhangs to shade and protect the deck while the redwood fins provide privacy in the meeting rooms.
设计的目标是创造一个明确的门槛–在森林的边缘明确过渡，无论是字面的还是形象的。建筑物被设置在山坡上的桥墩上，分隔结构的小路将游客从地面直接带入树冠。折叠的屋顶拉过楼板，提供深的悬垂以遮蔽和保护甲板，而红木翅片为会议室提供了隐私。
The goal of the design is to create a definitive threshold—to make explicit the transition, literal and figurative, at the edge of the forest. The building is set above the hillside on piers, and the pathway that divides the structure brings the visitor from the ground directly up into the tree canopy. The folded roof pulls past the floor plate, providing deep overhangs to shade and protect the deck while the redwood fins provide privacy in the meeting rooms.
在不断变化的森林中，游客中心的材料性传达了一种令人放心的永久感–它一直并将一直坐落在这个地点。露台、外墙板和 “内部 “表面的天花板都是在当地采伐、干燥和磨制的红木。一个深的、折叠的科腾钢屋顶遮蔽和保护着建筑。科腾钢将与当地收割和碾压的红木装饰板和护墙板一起自然风化。精心设计的红木翅片遮挡住了玻璃封闭的会议室，同时捕捉到了向外的视野。
Within the ever-changing forest, the materiality of the visitors center conveys a reassuring sense of permanence — that it always has and always will sit on this site. The decking, exterior siding, and ceiling at the ‘interior’ surfaces are redwood that was harvested, dried, and milled locally. A deep, folded Corten steel roof shades and protects the building. The Corten will weather naturally, along with the locally harvested and milled redwood decking and siding. Carefully oriented redwood fins screen the glass-enclosed meeting rooms while capturing views outward.
一条混凝土铺装的小路通向并穿过游客中心，最终在一个有顶棚的平台上俯瞰草地和远处的森林。这个入口框住了自然，从字面上看；当人们走近时，森林就进入了视野。嵌在草地上的是一个由设计工作室Matsys创造的纪念碑，一系列的混凝土长椅，上面刻着家庭成员的名字，并被放置在一个树环上。
A pathway of concrete pavers leads to and through the visitors center, culminating at a covered deck overlooking a meadow and the forest beyond. This portal frames nature, literally; as one approaches the forest comes into view. Nested into the meadow is a memorial created by design studio Matsys, a series of cast-concrete benches, inscribed with the names of family members and placed to recall the rings of a tree.
穿过门槛，游客进入纪念林。最初为伐木而修建的老 “滑 “路，确定了穿越森林的主要路线，而支流小径则延伸到更隐蔽的空间。在保护者和当地小路建设者的知识指导下，这个小路和开口的网络与土地一起流动，并最终上升到一个山丘，可以看到大海和地平线。
Moving through the threshold, visitors enter the memorial forests. The old ‘skid’ roads, originally established for logging, define the main routes through the forest, while tributary trails branch off into more secluded spaces. This network of trails and openings flows with the land, guided by the knowledge of conservators and local trail builders, and eventually rises to a knoll with views to the sea and horizon.
从景观和建筑到标牌和纪念标志的每一个细节都在努力建立一个安静和敬畏的人类存在。虽然每一个Better Place森林都会有一个独特的特点，但基本的愿景将保持不变：尊重景观的超凡之美，并最终尊重选择这片森林作为他们最后安息之地的人们。
Every detail from the landscape and architecture to the signage and memorial markers works to establish a quiet and reverent human presence. While each Better Place Forest will have a unique character, the underpinning vision will remain: to honor the transcendent beauty of the landscape and ultimately the people who choose this forest as their final resting place.
Architects: Fletcher Studio, OpenScope Studio
Year: 2019
Photographs: Hewitt Photography
Landscape Architect :Fletcher Studio
Memorial Design:Matsys
Structural Engineer:Dolmen Consulting Engineers
General Contractor:Empire Contracting, Inc.
City:Point Arena
Country:United States