Just found this amazing entry for the summer instillation competition 2010 held by MoMA and the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre on Arch Daily website, this competition is a platform for young architects.
Weathers Permitting by William O’Brien Jr looks like an architectural hybrid of nature and technology, using manipulated timber to create a dramatic terrain, reflecting nature in it's ability to change and evolve according to the weather.
The site location of the piece (in the rendering) gives a great understanding of how it could look in a built up environment. Clearly their is nothing natural about it given that it is a 'made' object, but with the material used and the close relationship which it has to the elements, Weather Permitting can be identified as a quasi natural object, compared to it's rather stark surroundings of concrete buildings and walls. The polarities of the materials of concrete and wood provides a strong visual identity for the piece also. All these elements make for a piece which could be neither described as architecture or art, but maybe both.
Weather permitting was designed as an 'elevated boardwalk with unconventional properties including malleability and water retention.' (Arch Daily) as well as taking inspiration from coastal topography.
Also on the post there is a free download this great little slideshow book thing, which describes the making and design of the object.
Below is an image of the installation from above.
