Qualities of space – KoozArch

KOOZ What questions does the project raise and which does it address?

NF During the work, I translated the aforementioned examination of the term “architectural space” into paintings. They serve as a medium to develop an own perspective on this topic and take up individual aspects from it. In particular, they question common architectural dogmas and ideas: What is the boundary between the private and the public sphere? How is the transition between urban space and the interior of a building defined? How do these two opposing conditions interact? In a time that is increasingly charged with spatially detached representations, is it still reasonable to hold on to a classical conception of space and to assign to the demarcation of boundaries through architecture the role it has long had?

These questions lead to the debate about a culturally shaped understanding of space. In this regard, I consider it crucial to highlight that changing cultural circumstances and technical achievements leave a not to be underestimated imprint on our perception of space. Especially since the rapid growth of technology and the thereby caused reduced importance of physical distance is more than enough reason to question how this phenomenon affects our behaviour regarding architecture.

While some paintings focus on the connections between architecture & infrastructure, exterior & interior spaces, especially the last piece in this series refers directly to the beforementioned aspect. The painting consists of an accumulation of spatial fragments and reflections. However, the outlines of the physical boundaries of the depicted space are not readable anymore. When painting this picture, I suppressed my spatial thinking and engaged with the forms in their two-dimensionality. What emerged from it is an image in which it is impossible to understand the physical dimensions of the space and the viewer’s standpoint within this conglomerate of spatial allusions. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the reflection of the human silhouette in the right half of the picture is the viewer’s reflection, where it comes from and by which elements it is caused.

The painting offers an analogy to our behaviour in the digital realm, which is characterized by the trust in anonymity through the chaotic, abstract condition of its environment. Here, privacy is no longer defined by a solid boundary but established by a blurring within the most public space. The image poses the question of the extent to which this form of privacy has an impact on the perception of an architectural environment that is fundamentally open and permeable, but whose complexity leads simultaneously to the possibility to accept the anonymization of one’s own identity within this space.