A lamp is not a compass
Ask when a bright landmark helps orientation and when its position can mislead the journey.
The observatory finding aid
Search the published register by title or subject. Each catalogue card identifies the kind of record and gives a short abstract before you open it. Filtering takes place in your browser and does not submit the search text.
All published records are shown.
Even polar nights keep a route home.
Discover a polar fantasy practice concerned with routes, changing ice and the cost of finding a way back.
Ice Cores
Compare Rift Lantern and The Quiet Thaw through their central questions about movement and changing terrain.
Leave frost for the way back
Consider why the outward route must leave enough resources and information for the return.
Making a glacier wall readable
Explore how colour, surface marks and layered ice help a traveller judge a passage.
Melt Records
Browse the complete collection of published design observations and return to earlier field questions.
Observatory Directory
Filter this catalogue by title or subject to locate every public concept, observation and reference page.
Privacy at the Observatory
Review how correspondence and technical visit information are handled, including retention and deletion requests.
Rift Lantern
Follow a route across fractured ice, choosing which anchors and landmarks can support a return journey.
The Observatory
Read how the observatory turns route questions into concepts, observations and prototype decisions.
The Quiet Thaw
Study a landscape whose gradual changes alter the meaning of a familiar path.
Two anchors before a spell
Examine the relationship between an anchor, the crossing it permits and the route that remains afterward.
Write to the Observatory
Send the observatory a question about a concept or published note, with guidance on the details to include.