Circle

The assignment was to start associating based on a clear architectural concept. The result did not need to be realistic, with other words: materials and constructions could be used without any architectural justification. The point of departure was ”the cage and its meaning”. It protects the outside world: something can’t escape (jail), but it protects what is inside as well against the outside world (a child in a playpen). There are different kinds of cage, and they can be translated in different manners, there are several metaphors.

Metaphor
(see the slide show on the side)
I used the difference between day and night, light and dark, the never enduing cycle. Every day and night (light and dark) have both positive and negative aspects. By day we do not realize how fast evening and night will come: before we know it, the moon is there already. The day means as well: innocence and being able to play safely, being a child. The day also stands for work which nowadays relates often to energy, stress and time. Night brings danger, but is as well a liberation from the tiredness of the day. Our dreams and fears are being discontinued with the first sunlight. A new begin… until the next night.
As part of the assignment we also needed to make "…a translation without words". Using merely drawings and known symbols the full story needed to be expressed. Below the slide show: the Circle which encompasses all, for the drawings one by one, see images.
"…a translation without words"
... a stairway to the entranceArchitectural translation
Door and window, and a road leading to the window
From the surface, stairways lead to the entrance. The door of the building opens automatically when you are straight in front of it. However, you notice too late that it is entrance only, surely no exit. As soon as you are inside, there is no contact with the outside area anymore, as a matter of speech, you are locked in. The only window in the building is in the back façade. While inside, you merely see a vague reflection of light coming through the ceiling (comparable to memories and thoughts you can’t place but originate from somewhere else – another past?). If you would be able to reach those windows, you would be able to look back and understand everything. Then you would see your path and how you got here. You could make some attempts to reach those windows, there seem to be ways to find out more about our past but you will always get stuck. If you find out anything at all, it might not always be the truth, but your own observation. You get stuck with that as well.

Interior
Several aspects of the interior are connected to what life brings us, see for example the difference in height of the outer wall. Fair, the unknown overtakes us when the gallery is higher and the wall a little lower. We always like to be protected, for example with a tall wall, we want to feel safe. The fact that the floor of the gallery is not even is also a translation of aspects of our life. In the gallery itself, you go up, against the things. This depicts a more difficult period than when you walk down.

Ceiling
The ceiling glass is as a matter of principle transparent, one can see through. When you are at a larger distance from the ceiling, where the gallery floor is low, the glass is fully transparent , you can see anything. Once you get nearer (you go up) the glass gets less transparent (technique: the glass responds to human body temperature). The ideas of both the ceiling and the window are related: at the start we think we can understand everything, but when we attempt it we realize we are not able to grasp it all. Then, everything becomes impossible to reach, vague.

Possible escape
Is there an escape from this circle? If you want to leave this gallery, intend to escape, the only option is faith. This can be faith in religion or in yourself et cetera. Only then, you dare to jump into the deep without knowing the consequences of what follows. Diving into the water can be seen as a new beginning, like when baptizing. Once you emerge, outside, you see the path leaving from this, the road which probably leads to the new circle.
Is an escape at all possible then?