A Chapel for Atheists: A Study in Timeless Building_ An Architecture of Emptiness
Author
Karagiannidou, Eleni
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2013
Submitted on
2013-05-22
Pages
111
Abstract
This thesis explores how architecture can cultivate emptiness as a secular refuge in the city, where silence and calm slow the experience of time. The research question asks how to create emptiness—a inhabitable yet deliberately non-programmatic space that can host unexpected uses or nothing at all—and how manipulating space can influence temporal perception. Grounded in experience and site analysis in Rotterdam, characterized as flat and lacking identity, the project develops the concept A Chapel for Atheists: a place that feels archetypal and sacred without religion and evokes safety. Methodologically, the work adopts a phenomenological and problem-based approach with case studies (including the Igualada Cemetery), reflections on archetypes, and intuition, supported by writings by Harries, Pallasmaa, Bachelard, and Tanizaki, as well as sustainability considerations. Six themes structure the inquiry: idealization, authenticity, slowness, plasticity, sensuousness, and silence. Proposed spatial gestures include a roof and ground plane that clearly define inside and outside, a long corridor half sunken in water to decelerate movement, and basic amenities such as toilets and running water treated as dignified, sensory elements. The outcome is a non-programmatic architectural proposal intended to offer stillness, quiet, and tactile presence within the urban fabric; the excerpt does not present a final evaluation of its effects, and the report is accompanied by technical drawings.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan arkitektur kan skabe tomhed som et sekulært fristed i byen, hvor stilhed og ro får oplevet tid til at gå langsommere. Forskningsspørgsmålet er, hvordan man skaber tomhed – et beboeligt, men bevidst ikke-programmatisk rum, der kan rumme uventede brugsmåder eller ingenting – og hvordan manipulation af rum kan påvirke tidsopfattelsen. Med udgangspunkt i erfaringer og stedsanalyse i Rotterdam, der beskrives som flad og identitetsfattig, udvikles konceptet A Chapel for Atheists: et rum, der føles arketypisk og “helligt” uden religion og fremkalder tryghed. Metodisk bygger arbejdet på en fænomenologisk og problemorienteret tilgang med case-studier (bl.a. Igualada-kirkegården), refleksion over arketyper og intuition, suppleret af litteratur af bl.a. Harries, Pallasmaa, Bachelard og Tanizaki samt overvejelser om bæredygtighed. Seks temaer strukturerer undersøgelsen: idealisering, autenticitet, langsomhed, plasticitet, sanselighed og stilhed. Foreslåede rumlige greb omfatter et tag og et jordplan, der klart definerer inde og ude, en lang korridor halvt nedsænket i vand for at neddrosle tempoet, samt basale faciliteter som toiletter og rindende vand, der behandles som værdige, sanselige elementer. Resultatet er en ikke-programmatisk arkitektonisk proposal, der søger at tilbyde stilhed, stilleståen og taktil tilstedeværelse i bylandskabet; uddraget rummer ikke en endelig evaluering af effekten, men rapporten ledsages af tekniske tegninger.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]