| dc.description.abstract | The outdoors and its natural elements have become a
growing interest to me in the last couple of years –
especially the reasons why people are attracted to them. I
believe one of the major reasons is to escape everyday life,
the chaos of the city, in search for relaxation and a sense of
well-being. Trees, water, wildlife, and natural scenery in
general, are some of the things that evoke these certain
feelings and relieve stress in peoples’ lives. There are many
reasons people escape to the great outdoors, including
release from stresses of city life, being closer to nature,
physical exercise, viewing the scenery, and much more.
These feelings and desires have also come to be known as
“biophilia”, a term that describes the human biological
need to affiliate with nature (Wilson, 1984).
Something I’ve noticed when exploring the outdoors and
lodging accommodations is that, resorts and cabins in
particular, are becoming more and more like the homes that
people leave behind every weekend, and I’ve come to
believe the true definition of a cabin has somehow been lost
over time. Someone may say they have a cabin at the lake,
but in reality it is an 1800 sq ft lake home, with all the same
modern amenities a person or family left behind for the
weekend. With this project I wish to explore the true
meaning of cabin life, and bring it back to cabin resort
design. Cabins have a certain character and quality that is
much different than that of a house.
The site I have chosen, just north of St. Croix Falls,
Wisconsin, is a wonderful location for this project. A
family that I know very well currently lives on the site, and
they love it because of its natural characteristics -
topography, water, trees, views, etc. This site also used to
be a campground many years ago, and I think it still has the
potential to be the site of a resort, given all these natural
characteristics that it has to offer. | |
