What is the ground? The dictionary defines it to be a solid surface of the earth. It defaults to be dry. People in the modern world have applied numerous technologies to maximize this dry surface: landfills, dams, roads; however, they still can’t stop the boundary between land and water from shifting closer to us. We have been living with water for centuries: the humidity in the air, rain, snow, canal, sewage, paddy field … why is water, the cradle for life, now a threat to us? To challenge the default dry ethos, this project seeks to embrace water by transforming the pre-engineered barn into a device sensitive to the transient wetness in our environment. It interacts with water throughout varying weather conditions by allowing ventilation to regulate humidity, channeling rain for plant growth, and raising floors with groundwater levels. By letting water into our everyday domain, the design disrupts normality and disorientates our lives. The ground is no longer solid, uniform, and stable; it fluctuates with the changing wetness in the environment. The relationship between land and water is in flux throughout the year: ground versus water, ground as water, ground is water.
