ALASKA - RESCUE ROADHOUSE
SEWARD HIGHWAY + TURNAGAIN PASS
Univ. of Michigan WINTER2007 [Danelle Guthrie]
Existing rest stop parking lot, known as Turnagain Pass along the Seward Highway, in the Kenai Peninsula.60 miles from Anchorage, AK • 67 miles from Seward, Surrounded by Chugach Mountains
This building needs to perform internally as a shelter due to its surrounding extreme temperatures, topography and light as well as welcoming to transient visitors. A pause from a destination. A small piece of someone’s journey. Primarily utilitarian, yet inviting to the public. Developed with theintention to bring two distinct user groups together. (Cross-country skiiers and snowmobilers)
The roadhouse is a distinct Alaskan building type
which in years past served travel routes, traditionally spaced a days haul by dog sled, provided basic eating and sleeping accommodations and served an important social function as a place to exchange information along the road about people, trade, and trail conditions. The roadhouse for Turnagain Pass might be seen as an extension of this tradition – a form of infrastructure, part highway, part landscape; part recreation, part utility; part community, part emergency rescue; and completely off the grid.
