Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Inspired by fairytales, dreams and magic mirrors, the two proposals isolate and intensify natural elements found in the V&A's John Madejski Garden. They blur the boundaries between reality and invention. Situated on top of an ellipse pond and around a tree, each one uses mirrors to create an immersive, contemplative space - an infinite sea and an infinite forest.