GMD the natural cabinet

The natural cabinet together with the public dairy, are a tourist attraction in the Schaalsee biosphere reserve in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The basic pedagogical attitude of the nature cabinet is loosened up by experiencing the landscape and playfully discovering different hidden spaces with specific annual trees. A place full of contrasts between natural and cultural landscape was created with minimal interventions. The characteristics of the existing landscape are staged and arranged to get discovered by visitors of all ages.

The Nature Cabinet is embedded in the wide landscape of the Schaalsee Biosphere Reserve. A precisely mown sequence of cabinets is inscribed in the existing wild perennial corridor. The edges of the resulting spaces are partly framed with sloping, low wooden walls as seating and leaning edges. The cabinets are connected to each other by mowed landscape paths, while a circular path leads through the complex. Individual cabinets function as green classrooms with additional seating for kindergarten and school classes, others offer different options for play and motion or areas for picnicking in the landscape. The hidden places along the mowed paths can be discovered one by one or by accident. The annual trees are presented to visitors in suitable communities which are scattered throughout the cabinets. A renatured pond with a wooden boardwalk and an information board didactically complement the natural cabinet. Two places at the entrance and exit serve as meeting points.

The natural cabinet becomes an unobtrusive attraction in a sparsely populated area. It plays with minimal, sensitive interventions and reduced funds with the characteristics of the west Pomeranian landscape. The visitors perception is focused on the always changing nature, which can be discovered in a playful way.