Graduate shows 2016: Bartlett graduate Louise Bjørnskov Schmidt has proposed an ecological education facility that circles a lake within a Panama rainforest (+ slideshow).

Bjørnskov Schmidt's project is a response to what she perceives as failings in the education system to properly promote awareness of the vital role the tropical rainforest surrounding Panama City plays in supporting city life.
The city's economy is largely dependent on shipping in the Panama Canal, which in turn relies on the rainforest for its supply of freshwater.

The proposal for a "learning landscape" in the rainforest seeks to provide an extension of Panama City's public school and university system, offering an immersive environment in which visitors can experience and learn about the country's delicate ecology.
Bjørnskov Schmidt completed the project, entitled Frame of Mind, as part of Unit 16 on the masters programme at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. The brief called for projects that "reflect through action".

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Her design comprises a circular path that extends around a lake in the forest.
Visitors enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the rainforest as they make their way between educational facilities contained in structures arranged around the circumference of the path.

"The main concern of the learning path is to slow down movement, and make t...