Hyesung Lee
At the centre of the Avebury stone circles sits a dwelling, and at the center of this dwelling sits the hearth. Through time this hearth has transcended its function to become a symbol of human life, harboring associations to fertility, land and community. Hearths were often at the centre of celebrations and festivals, with the bonfire being crucial to many societies.
This project explores a community’s relationship with architecture, ritual and fire. It proposes a festival within the Avebury Stone Circles, held at the summer solstice, at which the community joins together in feast, song and dance. Temporary structures and human activity revive the edge of the Avebury Circle, while repeated acts of burning and re-building challenges the popular understanding of heritage as passive. Through prioritising activity over aesthetic, heritage becomes a fluid, dynamic history created by the people who live it.
