Yuwei Wang

SYNOPSIS

Mont Saint Michel, located in Normandy, France, is the third holiest site in Catholicism after Jerusalem and the Vatican. The bay of Saint-Malo, where it is located, is a tidal flat, and the tides continuously wash up the alluvial deposits, making Mont Saint-Michel an isolated island when the tide is high, and is connected to the mainland through the tidal flat when the

tide is low. A Gothic Abbey on the highest point of the island is the most important building on the island. It is a medieval building complex composed of rocks, houses and walls, which embodies the ingenuity of nature and human. The mountain part is made of hard granite,which makes the design on this site limited by terrain and space, but the hard granite also keeps the strength and stability of the Abbey. Although the abbey has been designed by many architects, it still maintains an earthy style, which is integrated with the granite base.

The Bay of Saint-Malo is known for its high tides. If you do not leave the island during the day, you will be trapped on the island after the evening. The ebb tide is also very sudden. After the sea recedes, the beaches are full of quicksand with a special color. This sand is more like silt, which is very firm once dry, but turns into a sticky mud when mixed with water.

The coastline of the mainland is closer to Mont-Saint-Michel due to the accumulation of sediment. So in 1879, a dam was built to allow vehicles to go to the mountain.

Due to the long distance from the mainland and the difficulty of direct use of seawater resources, the acquisition of water resources on the island used to rely heavily on ancient rainwater tanks and natural springs. In the 21st century Mont-Saint-Michel is connected to the mainland for water and electricity. We are very concerned about the acquisition and use of water resources, so water is a key element in our thesis. The Apple Brandy Landscape stands on the southern slopes of Mont-Saint-Michel beneath medieval Abbey walls and amongst ancient terraced gardens. It comprises three programmes connected by water: an

apple brandy distillery, a bathhouse refuge for pilgrimage and a rainwater collection system all tethered to a singular route from the Bay to the Abbey.

There are two journeys in our project, one is the streamline of the water cycle, the other is the production of Apple Brandy and the pilgrimage route of the pilgrims. Rainwater remains a key resource in the water cycle. Rainwater is collected on the roof, transported through some tubes, and stored in water tanks. Some part of water is used directly for irrigation of the orchard and the supply of bathing house, some part is purified in the charcoal walls and sent to the public for drinking, distribute through the brandy production process – washing,mashing, fermenting and distilling - cleansing in the treatment tower and redistribution to the Bay.

From the entrance Gatehouse Bottling Plant the journey of production and pilgrimage moves past the Water Treatment Watchtower up through the Barrel Wall Forest to the elevated deck with inhabited wall and apple brandy distillery beneath. Apple orchards fill the ancient terraces to the south whilst water purification walls form an enclosed garden to the east meeting the Old School Reservoir and water collection roof before arriving at the Pilgrim Bathhouse and the Abbey beyond.

The New Gateway of Nicosia