Developing (Methods for) Balancing Acts
The program of the Wetlands Ecological Court bridge involves a reportorial pursuit of truth, merging architectural tectonics with a critical historical narrative. The bridge is a response to the historical Witch Trials that occurred in the 16th-18th centuries in Edinburgh. Its program reflects the pursuit of truth in an environment that was an exact inversion of that. The ecological habitat of Loch Nor became the stage for the ‘Trial of the Witch’, which involved submerging the accused into its depth through the device of the ducking chair. By deconstructing this device, the architecture itself becomes a tool for inquiry into what actually constitutes the truth.
The bridge subverts the passage of time. It serves as a reminder that although the Witch Hunts are historically distant, other injustices still prevail today. This courthouse aims to counter those unjust narratives of silencing, fear, and scapegoating in an attempt to create a space where the truth can actually be heard without fear of retribution.
i Historical context
“The place we find ourselves in is the Nor Loch, a wetland space that holds ground between the Old and New
Towns, a natural valley running outwards east-west from land known as the “Seat” - an unregulated area of
natural ground, containing Arthurs Seat and the Salisbury Crags, unchanged for centuries – a wetland that
has seen many uses over time as a defensive moat, legal and illegal killing ground, waste depository for clay
pipes and oyster shells and natural drain against flooding. Here we must urgently build our bridges to help the
city and the land in offering amenity and facility to all.”
Towns, a natural valley running outwards east-west from land known as the “Seat” - an unregulated area of
natural ground, containing Arthurs Seat and the Salisbury Crags, unchanged for centuries – a wetland that
has seen many uses over time as a defensive moat, legal and illegal killing ground, waste depository for clay
pipes and oyster shells and natural drain against flooding. Here we must urgently build our bridges to help the
city and the land in offering amenity and facility to all.”
from the Unit brief
ii The Witch hunts
In Edinburgh’s Loch Nor, the trial of the witch in the form of “witch ducking” was often employed. This practice involved placing the suspected in
a chair-like device, which was meant to determine whether or not they were, in fact, a witch. The test was simple, in theory. If a person floated, they
were deemed a witch and often burned at the stake by the castle. If they did not, they were cleared of the charge and died in the process.
a chair-like device, which was meant to determine whether or not they were, in fact, a witch. The test was simple, in theory. If a person floated, they
were deemed a witch and often burned at the stake by the castle. If they did not, they were cleared of the charge and died in the process.
Deconstructing the ducking device
The ducking device was an instrument used for the Trial of the Witch in the form of “witch ducking”. Michel Foucault stated that “Torture rests on a whole quantitative art of pain”, in the case of any form of torture it is one characterized by prolonging of the victim’s suffering.* Additionally, in Foucault’s view “torture forms part of a ritual,” so in the case of throwing the accused into the Loch Nor it becomes a spectacle of sorts uniting the accusers against one common enemy – or, perhaps more accurately, a scapegoat.
When one expands this line of thinking to the next line of torture (assuming the first one fails), burning at a stake becomes an even more gory spectacle. An exact inversion of the primal notions of early human bonfires, this blazing spectacle fits Foucault’s definition of the worst kind of torture. This notion corresponds to some of the earlier ones, where the Witch Hunts did not aim to eradicate some unsubstantiated evil force, but rather brought communities together in an unjust targeted attack against vulnerable groups who could not defend themselves.
The Scottish witch trials
Mapping the trail of the Witches in Edinburgh
i . ‘Castle Hill’or Esplanade: Spot of hundreds of executions connected to witch accusations.
ii. The Witches’ Well: A monument to the accused witches burned at the stake in Edinburgh is attached to a wall at the lower end of the Castle Esplanade.
iii. Visions of the Devil and fairies: Major Thomas Weir and sister Jean Weir, were both executed in 1670. Jean was accused of witchcraft, while Thomas’s main crime was connected to incest, hereby exposing him to bewitchment.
iv. Execution of Janet Boyman: “ane wyss woman that culd mend diverss seikness and bairnis that are tane away with fairyie men and wemen”
(a wise woman that could heal diverse illnesses and children taken away by fairy men and women.)
v. The tomb of Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh: A lawyer influential in discouraging the prosecution of witches in the 1670s. He wrote of witchcraft trials: ‘poor Innocents die in multitudes by an unworthy Martyredom, and Burning comes in fashion’.
vi. The Mercat Cross: Place of several witch-related executions, such as magician and necromancer Richie Graham, three out of the four siblings from the aristocratic Erskine of Dun family accused of witchcraft.
vii. The Tron Kirk: William Colville, minister of the church and later Principal of the University of Edinburgh interrogated several accused there. Janet Barker and Margaret Lauder, likely under torture, confessed to renouncing their baptism and having sex with the Devil.
viii. Canongate Tolbooth: A place where accused witches in Edinburgh could be imprisoned and tried. One such alleged witch of the area was accused of “being ’ane imposter’ alleged to have a ‘familiar’ and to consult with ‘evil spirits’”.
iii The existing site
East-facing section
West-facing section
iv Initial structural exploration 1:1 drawing exercise
v The Wetlands Ecological Court
Tectonic section
Sectional model
connect !
© 2026 Julia Twardzisz