SENSORY SPACE
A single pole planted in the scene interrupts its continuity. Similarly, a single wall stiffens, interrupts, opposes, and violently alters the setting in which it is placed, thus beginning to reveal signs of a transformation that leads to architecture. At the same time, however, a wall can blend into its surroundings through events such as the shadows cast by nearby trees on its surface.
Various elements can contribute to defining similar mutual relationships, but in the urban context of today's cities, despite the great abundance of material goods that characterizes them, it is difficult to identify such relationships. To revitalize such an environment, I believe it is appropriate to also reconsider the primitive and fundamental meaning that a pillar or a wall can assume. A planted pole draws from its verticality a symbolic meaning that architecture has long recognized. The column therefore has a symbolic meaning and, together with the wall, defines a space. I do not intend to compare walls or columns or to argue for the superiority of the former; what I am thinking of is a method of operating based on the rhetorical relationship between wall and column.
In my work, walls serve to identify spaces physically and psychologically isolated from the outside world; they carve out moments of sky, sunlight, wind, and landscape, and allow architecture to represent this continuous manifestation of power. The more austere a wall is, austere to the point of appearing completely cold, the more it communicates with us. It can appear like a sharp weapon threatening us, or like a mirror confusingly reflecting the landscape and the sun's rays. The light illuminating a corner or gathering in the darkness is very different from direct light, but over time these lights blend together and make the space more meaningful.
Sensory Space is a work exhibited at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition "La Biennale di Venezia."
Year
2006
Location
GHANT, NY
Category
CULTURE
Status
Concept
Gross floor area (sqm)
-
