competition-winning proposal in collaboration with biotope architects.

geotopen is a site-specific art and architecture project in the ice age landscape surrounding jyske ås.

tina ratzer’s artistic work takes its point of departure in the site and moves across the different scales of the landscape – from the overall land art plan and the placement of the shelters within the terrain to the large glacial boulders and the four site-specific glass works.

geotopen unfolds across three interconnected scales: macro, meso and micro.

at the micro scale, ratzer has created four site-specific glass works based on the species arnica arnica montana, common polypody polypodium vulgare, marsh cinquefoil comarum palustre and dwarf cornel cornus suecica.

she studied the plants closely – under a magnifying glass – with a curiosity about their forms, structures and patterns. her observations were translated into hand-drawn motifs arranged in offset layers, meeting a mosaic of squares and openings in the glass.

through these openings, the gaze moves out into the landscape, allowing plant and view, micro and macro, to merge. in this way, the glass works become both something to look at and something to look through.

the colours of the works take their point of departure in the plants’ own colour palettes and shift with the changing light throughout the day and across the seasons. the four plant icons carry the plants’ latin names, drawing attention to the small, often overlooked species of the local ecosystem.

geotopen is a public place for rest and gathering, where art, architecture and landscape meet – a place for curiosity and renewed attention to the living world around us.