SHARE THIS ARTICLE
IDEAS / architecture
words: Natalie Donat-Cattin
photos: Jian Yong Khoo
Water temple, designed by Tadao Ando, hides in the inland of Awaji Island. Despite its close proximity to the sea (only a 15 min walk) the building turns its back to the ocean to embrace the hillside.
The road to reach it, is deserted and steep: a series of greenhouses and fields are the only panorama’s highlights. A light hiss of wind provokes a sovereign silence as we step on the gravelled pathway between the old Buddhist temple and the cemetery. As soon as nature surrounds us, a wide space opens up before us abruptly overlooked by a concrete wall: austere in its mass, yet violated by a square entryway. Like the red doors of the shinto temples, this marks the transition into a mystical environment. It is a symbol of passage, reflection and acceptance.
Upon crossing it – with a great surprise – we find ourselves standing in front of another solid wall of the same material, trapped between a linear and a circular surface. The trail, just adjacent to the latter, invites us to follow it in all its length. Its curved shape guides the hand, which timidly dares to caress its smooth finish.
The edge of the wall marks the entrance to a second space. Here a circle of water is embraced by the half-moon wall and cut in half by a staircase, penetrating into its depths. The descending passageway invites us to leave the earthly world.
The prayer room is also circular. It is protected by a shiny red wooden cage and hidden from sight. The change of material on the floor outlines the access into the sacred space. Shoes must be abandoned, like all superficial behaviours. The cold bare feet stroke the wooden deck, while the eyes become accustomed to the candles’ artificial lighting. It is in a state of mind of anxiety that we walk around the perimeter of the circle, at which half we are offered access to the godly hall. The gold of Buddha sparkles in the centre, never so bright as in the darkness.
“Lacquerware decorated in gold is not something to be seen in a brilliant light, to be taken in at a single glance; it should be left in the dark, a part here and a part there picked up by a faint light. Its florid patterns recede into the darkness, conjuring in their stead an inexpressible aura of depth and mystery, of overtones but partly suggested.” – In Praise of Shadows, Jun’ichiro Tanizaki
Water Temple is a found ruin we stumble upon: silent, forgotten, abandoned. No one is around. Nature, wind and water are the only spirits looking over our actions. The concrete, trapped in its hardness, observes dumbly. Everything seems to be allowed. Desolation reigns, in a kingdom where even the lilies are dead. Only a female voice reminds the community to pray. Cold, mechanical, chilling. In its stiffness, it seems to reproach us for having usurped the quiet of the place. It is art and part of the temple. Phantom of time and religion.
In Praise Of Shadows – “…what strikes the eye is the massive roof of tile or thatch and the heavy darkness that hangs beneath the eaves. Even at midday cavernous darkness spreads over all beneath the roof’s edge, making entryway, doors, walls, and pillars all but invisible.”
Architecture is art, and in art lies its completeness. In Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, designed by Stanton Williams Architects, the two disciplines work one in function to the other. The building is like a Rubik’s cube in which all faces have the same colour: the solutions are endless and they all work.
Architecture is the embodiment of the arts and sciences, a complex combination which results in an ambiguous whole. What once was just a means of shelter, has evolved into a means of which to communicate and express the ever evolving necessities of contemporary society. The demands of the people coupled with the zeitgeist of the period, more often than not, precipitate a prevailing architectural style, one with which the architects of the period rally to. Two centuries apart, Étienne-Louis Boullée and Louis Kahn, through their tireless re-examination of the discipline, have established profound ideologies on the nature of architecture, which remarkably allude to common principles.
The power of a mirror lies in its simplicity. A single surface allowing for endless possibilities. Multiplication’s machine, illusions’ creator, reality’s extension are just some of its magical properties.
“Magic mirror, on the wall – who is the fairest one of all?”
Philosophers, scientists, artists, architects. These and many others are the prominent figures of the 18th century in France and Europe. Leading figures, whom with their thinking and charisma, are still remembered for their contribution to an epoch of political changes, renewed ideals and revolutionary discoveries, in a period of time stretching from the Age of Enlightenment to the French Revolution. During this epoch, the physical universe, no more alien and mysterious, finally begins to take shape and configuration, thanks to the excellence of Newton. This vibrant and evolving context creates the preconditions for the affirmation of man as an individual and as a thinker, aware of his abilities and means in a world of immense dimensions.
architasters / project by Natalie Donat-Cattin and Jian Yong Khoo. It is a platform for speculation and discussion, functioning as a complementary repository for their design work.