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ART
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ARCHITECTURE:
IS THERE A CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE OF A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE TWO? ARC3060: DISSERTATION IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES 2014-2015 YASMIN KELLY 120092765 WORD COUNT: 8153
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ABSTRACT: When an architectural design begins to take on the qualities of a work of art, it crosses the boundary from the field of architecture over to art. There is a blurred line between the two fields where aspects of both art and architecture combine to create atmospheric spaces. These atmospheric spaces can provide an overwhelming experience for the visitor and from this evoke intense emotions. There are many examples of historic buildings which possess atmospheric qualities however very few contemporary works of architecture have achieved this. A significant aspect of a work of art is to tell a narrative and convey a meaning, which are qualities seen within exhibitions in museum spaces. There are museums designed by Daniel Libeskind which possess these qualities of art, not only in the exhibition areas but also through the architecture itself. These museums become the exhibition and a work of art in their own right using the experience of architectural space to convey a message and evoke an emotional response. Through my own experience and research, two key examples of contemporary architecture, where there is a strong connection to art, are the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester and Jewish Museum in Berlin.
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CONTENTS: 4
INTRODUCTION SECTION 1: ART VS. ARCHITECTURE INTRODUCTION: DESIGN CHAPTER 1: ART CHAPTER 2: ARCHITECTURE
9 10 12
SECTION 2: OVERLAP INTRODUCTION: CONCEPT CHAPTER 1: EXPERIENCES CHAPTER 2: EMOTION CHAPTER 3: PUBLIC ART
17 19 22 24
SECTION 3: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN INTRODUCTION: THE MUSEUM SPACE CHAPTER 1: THE IMPERIAL W AR MUSEUM NORTH CHAPTER 2: THE JEWISH MUSEUM BERLIN
31 35 43
CONCLUSION
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
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INTRODUCTION
The most significant connection between art and architecture is their ability to provide an experience which can evoke an emotional response. A work of art, such as a painting, can tell a story and manipulate a person’s feelings using visual communication. However there are very few works of architecture which can achieve this. For an architect to develop a narrative within the building and create spaces which provide experience it must take on aspects found in the discipline of art. In contemporary architecture, rarely is an architect free to focus on creating atmospheric spaces. Architectural design is more restricted in what it can achieve compared to art and must abide by rules and regulations which are not found in the field of art. Contemporary architecture focuses on function rather than concept and always pushes to take full advantage of the amount of useful space within a building. Current architects rarely develop a strong concept or meaning behind their design, leading to very few contemporary buildings having their own character or personality. What makes a work of architecture unique is having a purposeful meaning or clear message, which the architectural space within the building conveys to the visitor. There are various historic buildings, such as cathedrals, which overwhelm a visitor with the experience it provides and leave a lasting the mind of the visitor. Buildings such as cathedrals focus of the experiential elements of architectural space and by using ornament architectural features it can become a work of art in itself.
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are able to impression in spiritual and and different
The bridge between the two disciplines is crossed when the architect focuses on the visual aspects of the design as well as the experience of the architectural space within. There are very few examples of contemporary architecture that crosses this boundary from architecture over to art. I intend to look into this overlap of art and architecture and find a significant example of contemporary architecture which has a strong connection between the two. I intend to define what art and architecture are and look more closely at how some aspects of architectural space can take on qualities that the discipline of art possesses. I will focus on how art and architecture are similar due to their experiential and atmospheric qualities and how it is they achieve this, as well as looking more into the blurred line between them and an element of art called Public Art which takes on several architectural qualities. I aim to find an example of contemporary architecture which takes on the qualities of a work of art and which has an enormous impact experientially and emotionally on those that visit it, just as a cathedral accomplishes.
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SECTION 1: ART VS. ARCHITECTURE
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INTRODUCTION: DESIGN
Zumthor has written that, ‘designing is inventing.’1 It is the process in which new ideas are born and are brought to life. This can be seen throughout the world of art and architecture. Designing is a skilful craft which has many disciplines associated with it. Some aspects of design are more liberal than others, to the point when it crosses the boundary between ‘design’ over to ‘art’. This boundary between ‘design’ and ‘art’ is already blurred as more of the design disciplines use various elements from art to influence or alter their designs. This can be seen in the design discipline of architecture, as there is a continuous rise in the number of buildings which have become more of a work of art than just a standard building with a particular function. The design process starts from ideas and these come directly from what we imagine and dream; ‘The sense of self, strengthened by art and architecture, also permits us to engage fully in the mental dimensions of dream, imagination and desire.’2 It is what comes after this moment of dream or imagination that then distinguishes whether it is art or design based, and whether the idea as it progresses will remain driven by concepts or driven by its functionality. Art is very much driven by conceptual ideas, whereas although architectural design does sometimes retain a concept, it can lose this concept as it is generally driven by function. By determining what ‘art’ and ‘architecture’ can be defined as, will then lead to more understanding about the bridge between the two, and what happens when the two disciplines combine.
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Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006), p. 22. Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2012), p. 13. 2
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CHAPTER 1: ART
‘Art projects an unattainable ideal, the ideal of beauty that momentarily touches the external.’3
Art is a creative skill which takes its form in media such as drawings, paintings or sculptures. A piece of Fine Art, most commonly a painting, is generally found within the boundaries of a gallery or art museum. In these environments a visitor is expected to view the items on display and from it interpret the story within the artwork and experience the artwork in their own way. Pallasmaa has written about this moment between the person and this piece of artwork: ‘When experiencing a work of art, a curious exchange takes place; the work projects its aura, and we project our own emotions and percepts on the work.’4 Art focuses on the experience and the emotion which comes directly from the original idea and concept behind it. Whether the original concept has remained in the work of art depends on whether the artist’s message or experience they have attempted to create has followed through to the final product. Art can convey a concept or meaning, and can communicate this to the public. Although a piece of artwork begins with the initial idea, it has been stated that, ‘you cannot design art.’5 However some elements of art located outside the gallery or 3
Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 58. Ibid., p. 74. 5 Jane Rendell, Art and Architecture: A Place Between (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006), p. xiii. 4
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museum must be designed whilst considering aspects of architectural design. Fine art based inside an art gallery is usually centred on a specific theme or concept, whether it is trying to express a particular emotion or depict particular experiences to the visitor. This is the same with sculpture; a sculpture’s design is considered more constricting compared to a work of fine art, as for example there may be health and safety concerns to consider as there are in architectural design. A sculptor would also have to address the approach to the object in question and its placement within the space available, an element which is thought about in terms of both works of art and architecture. A sculptor must consider the objects mass and weight and how is it perceived in the eyes of the viewer, alongside materiality and the conditions of the space or environment it is situated in. Producing a work of Fine Art or creating a sculpture require a high level of skill and are very hands-on crafts. Technology is becoming a large influence on and a tool in the making of these pieces, just as it has started making a large impact in the field of architecture and design. It has become easier to access art over the past 100 years via books for example, and more recently through the internet; where you can access art wherever, whenever, and so consequently the definition of what ‘art’ is and what it can be is always expanding: A work of fine art such as a painting can be seen as a flat, 2D element made up of material, a sculpture is viewed more an a 3D mass or volume in a space, whereas architecture is seen as the space itself.
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CHAPTER 2: ARCHITECTURE
‘Architectural meaning derives from archaic responses and reactions remembered by the body and senses. Architecture has to respond to traits of primordial behaviour preserved and passed down by the genes. Architecture does not only respond to the functional and conscious intellectual and social needs of today’s city dweller; it must also remember the primordial hunter and farmer concealed in the body.’6
‘Architecture’ is thought of an inhabited space; a building which solves a practical problem and has a specific purpose or function. Architecture can be seen as a form of art; ‘Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light.’7 Whether the function of the building is for shelter, a cultural purpose or simply to be a representation or monument of the area it is situated within, architecture is always found to be driven by function. Introducing a concept to a building makes a building seem more majestic and iconic, therefore becoming a piece of architecture. Buildings which are referred to as works of Architecture are seen as important buildings of cultural significance, buildings that stand out and symbolise something. Just as in any other design discipline, architecture starts with an idea, a concept and this grows to become a design. The process of designing buildings, driven by function, also allows a concept to grow although the function being the main purpose can override this if the concept is no longer relevant. Jane
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Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 65. Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture (New York: Dover Publications, 1986), p. 31.
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Rendell writes, ‘in architectural design education there is great pressure to design buildings within the terms the architectural profession sets.’8 There is very little freedom in designing buildings as there are very strict guidelines and limitations of what can be achieved. One process which is slowly testing the limitations of design, is the use of computers and technology for the design of the building itself. Using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to produce designs for buildings makes it easier to determine whether the building will work, and therefore the design can be pushed further and boundaries can be tested, producing buildings never seen before. In contemporary architecture the use of CAD software has been a progressive tool in the creation of today’s contemporary styles. Some of these styles include Deconstructivism, as seen in works by Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry, Blobitechture and High-tech Architecture. Today’s contemporary style pushes the boundaries of concept and what can be produced using minimal materials. New developments in technology results in using CAD software which enables architects to focus more on the experience of the spaces within, rather than focus on whether the building can perform its specific function. CAD software enables the architect to create a simulation of the final building and test the final outcome in its new environment. An important aspect of architecture that makes it different to art is whether it works well in its surroundings: ‘the object and its environment: a consonance of nature and artificially created work that is different from the pure beauty of nature – and different from the pure beauty of an object. Architecture, the mother of the arts?’ 9
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Jane Rendell, p. xiv. Peter Zumthor, p. 75.
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SECTION 2: OVERLAP
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INTRODUCTION: CONCEPT
‘The ultimate meaning of any building is beyond architecture; it directs our consciousness back to the worlds and towards our own sense of self and being. Profound architecture makes us experience ourselves as complete embodied and spiritual beings. In fact, this is the great function of all meaningful art.’10
When designing architecture, producing a painting or building a sculpture, there is always reasoning behind it, an overall idea or concept. Both art and architecture are created with a purpose or underlying goal which usually focuses on the relationship between the object, whether it be a painting or building, and the visitor. Sol LeWitt famously wrote of his conceptual art that, ‘the idea becomes a machine that makes the art.’11 It is the concept behind the design that the architect wishes to convey. Concepts can disappear as the design process progresses due to flaws or problems that may arise or for the reason that the function can no longer remain the same if the concept is kept. In architectural design, the concept can connect with the experiential aspect of the building and can lead the design down a different path than to a design which focuses solely on the function. There are moments in architectural designs where the concept becomes the function of the building itself. This is when the purpose of the 10
Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 13. Sol LeWitt, ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,’ Artforum (Summer 1967) <http://radicalart.info/concept/LeWitt/paragraphs.html> [accessed 19 December 2014] (p. 1).
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building is the original idea, notion and concept, which was present at the start of the design process of that building. When a concept relates to the experience inside a building or the emotion that is felt within, this can drive the design process to focus more on the concept than the function; there comes a point in every design process where the architect has to decide which is more important. In works of art, the concept becomes the art itself however with architectural design the concept has to serve the function and relate to the space around it. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Architecture also gives a conceptual and material structure to societal institutions, as well as to the conditions of daily life.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;12 The finished building is of less importance, in Conceptual Architecture, than the ideas behind it. Whether the buildings function or intended purpose is fulfilled is not as relevant as whether the architect has achieved what they set out to achieve in the design. This largely relates to buildings where experience is important in terms of experience within the spaces and also in relation to materials and sensory aspects of the architecture. Phenomenology is a growing influence on contemporary architecture and focuses on the atmosphere within the spaces and the experience and interactions the visitor has with the built space.
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Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 45.
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CHAPTER 1: EXPERIENCES
‘Good architecture should receive the human visitor, should enable him to experience it and live in it, but should not constantly talk at him.’ 13 Peter Zumthor
Experiential qualities within spaces vary depending on the function of the space. The magnitude of the experience can change depending on the space that is created and on the visitor to the space. The experience of one space will be different for everyone who enters it. Past experiences and a person’s previous encounters of space are influential to their future encounters, as Peter Zumthor explains in ‘Thinking Architecture’: ‘The strength of a good design lies in ourselves and in our ability to perceive the world with both emotion and reason. A good architectural design is sensuous. A good architectural design is intelligent. We all experience architecture before we have even heard the word. The roots of architectural understanding lie in our architectural experience: our room, our house, our street, our village, our town, our landscape – we experience them all early on, unconsciously, and we subsequently compare them with the countryside, towns, and houses that we experience later on.’14
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Peter Zumthor, p. 33. Ibid., p. 65.
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Zumthor explains how buildings can express their own personality and character using the atmospheres created within, which defines the field of phenomenology. He also clarifies how a building can have a conversation with a person’s feelings, and also exactly how it achieves this affect and experience. Architects also look back on their own past experiences and encounters when attempting to design new ones; their own memories are a large influence on their designs. It would be strong memories of their experiences of spaces and the atmosphere and the motion they felt within them, such as with Zumthor and his experiences; ‘Memories like these contain the deepest architectural experience that I know. They are the reservoirs of the architectural atmospheres and images that I explore in my work as an architect.’15 Experience and atmosphere within spaces are developed using several elements from their surroundings. These could be physical or sensory aspects of the space itself which can help the specific experience develop. An architect can change or improve the experience of a space for the visitor; the architect would first have to work out how to create the atmosphere desired and then manipulate the space to achieve this experience. By understanding how people approach and move through the space and use their senses to analysis the space and its surroundings, an architect is able to control the atmosphere and a person’s experience; ‘In memorable experiences of architecture, space, matter and time fuse into one singular dimension, into the basic substance of being, that penetrates our consciousness. We identify ourselves with this space, this place, this moment, and these dimensions become ingredients of our very existence. Architecture is the art of reconciliation
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Peter Zumthor, p. 8.
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between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 Experiences formed within the space itself can be a by-product or accident produced from the function of the building or activities taking place within the space. Some experiences or atmospheres are created by purpose, as part of the design itself, and it is only once the construction is completed that it can be seen whether the desired atmosphere and experience takes place in the space. Materials are an effective way of creating a different atmosphere within a space; by changing the material, colour, weight, transparency and light that is brought into the building can alter the atmosphere that is developed within the space. When an architect, such as Peter Zumthor, focuses more on the experiential qualities they desire within the space as part of the function of the building, a stronger atmosphere can be produced; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The sense that I try to instil into materials is beyond all rules of composition, and their tangibility, small, and acoustic qualities are merely elements in language that we are obliged to use. Sense emerges when I succeed in bringing out the specific meanings of certain materials in my buildings, meanings that can only be perceived in just this way in this one building.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 17 An emotion, feeling or sense is created from the specific experience that is produced when a particular atmosphere is able to thrive within this one space. Upon reflection of this space, having left it, the experience the visitor may remember could alter however the emotion and feeling they had encountered in that space can become the experience itself.
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Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 77. Peter Zumthor, p. 10.
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CHAPTER 2: EMOTION
‘Are the effort and skill we put into them really inherent parts of the things we make? Sometimes, when I am moved by a work of architecture in the same way as I am moved by music, literature, or a painting, I am tempted to think so.’18
Some visitors to a specific building would know how to experience the spaces within, and how to perceive it, however most people don’t recognize or perceive the emotion that the architecture is conveying to them. It is only when the experience produces a strong emotion that people pay attention to what they are feeling within the space. The space within the building with an intense atmosphere leaves at lasting impression which stays with the person as an emotion: ‘Buildings that have a strong impact always convey an intense feeling of their spatial quality. They embrace the mysterious void called space in a special way and make it vibrate.’ 19 To create the emotion within the space it helps to have a direction, element or focal point which pushes this emotional state and makes it stronger. Works of art, whether situated in a gallery space or in the public realm, offer the viewer an experience within the piece itself. Fine Art in the parameters of a gallery space offers the viewer a story and an experience which can evoke an emotional state. Journeying through a gallery space with many works of art on the wall offers a context or meaning behind the work as well as developing emotions from the 18 19
Peter Zumthor, p. 11. Ibid., p. 22.
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experience. A visitor opens themselves up to the experience of an art gallery and allows the works of art to communicate and convey the emotion and meaning that the artist intended, which also relates to how a person journeys through a space within a building, as Juhani Pallasmaa explains: ‘In the experience of art, a peculiar exchange takes places; I lend my emotions and associations to the space and the space lends me its atmosphere, which entices and emancipates my perceptions and thoughts. An architectural work is not experienced as a series of isolated retinal pictures, but in its full and integrated material, embodied and spiritual essence. It offers pleasurable shapes and surfaces moulded for the touch of the eye and the other senses, but it also incorporates and integrates physical and mental structures, giving our existential experience a strengthened coherence and significance.’20 There are buildings which are works of art in themselves, and similar to artworks, they present an experience and tell a story. These works of architecture which offer experience within spaces convey emotion to the visitor. In architectural designs, where such a situation takes place, the journey through the space and the environment within are keys factors to creating this experience for the visitor; ‘there is an intimate relationship between our emotions and the things around us.’21 How affected the visitor is to the experience depends on the cause of the situation itself; the building must play on the right emotions to cause an affect which can depend on culture, religion and location as well as the environment it is in.
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Juhani Pallasmaa, p. 13. Peter Zumthor, p. 85.
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CHAPTER 3: PUBLIC ART
‘The category ‘public art’ usually refers to a certain kind of artwork, a large sculpture places in an external site; the word ‘art’ describes the objects and ‘public’ the site in which the art is placed and/or the audience or the body of people ‘for’ whom the art is intended.’22
Public art can be defined as artwork which has to abide by the same rules as those in architectural design, such as the Angel of the North which symbolises that you have reached the north. This is artwork not meant for a specific audience but meant for passers-by to make them experience and respond to it no matter how brief they see it for as they travel beside it. Public artwork is mostly used for expressing a message or important meaning to those who choose to view it. It can be located in a space which gives no option but to stop and take notice of it or it can be almost invisible to the passing public and be obscured from view some of the time. Public art can take any form of art, whether it be a painting similar to those in private art galleries, or a large sculpture which almost crosses into the realm of architecture in a large open space; ‘The terms ‘public’ and ‘private’ do not exist then as mutually exclusive categories; rather, their relationship is dependant and open to change. For example, public art located outside the private institution of the art gallery may still be
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Patricia C. Phillips, ‘Temporality and public art’, in Critical Issues in Public Art, Content, Context and Controversy, ed. by Harriet F Senie and Sally Webster (New York: Harper Collins, 1992), p. 298.
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inside the cooperate world of private property and finance, and further still inside the private work of the fine art network.’23 Public art is similar to architecture with respect to the rules and regulations it must comply with. The work of art in the public space is not the same as one within a gallery space or museum for the reason that public art must consider the environment it is situated within, and it must respect its surroundings. Jane Rendell explains that, ‘art has to engage with the kinds of restraints and controls to which only architecture is usually subject. In many public projects, art is expected to take on ‘functions’ in the way that architecture does, for example to alleviate social problems, comply with health and safety requirements, or be accessible to diverse audiences and groups of users.’24 There must always be a reasoning behind art situated in the public realm, just as with architecture, as it has to withstand critics and those who do not wish to spoil the environment with it. Public art pulls on social situations and current or past issues to make it meaningful; ‘this type of public art practice is critically engaged; it works in relation to dominant ideologies yet at the same time questions them; and it explores the operations of particular disciplinary procedures – art and architecture – while also drawing attention to wider social and political problems.’25 Situating a work of art in a public space requires the piece of art to be relevant and relate to that space in the same way a building must have a relationship with its surroundings. As with architecture, public art alters the space in which it is located and can raise questions using social or political issues from the past or present.
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Jane Rendell, p. 6. Ibid., p. 4. 25 Ibid., p. 4. 24
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Fig. 2. Angel of the North
Chris Burden writes, ‘I just make art. Public art is something else, I’m not sure it’s art. I think it’s about social agenda.’26 Public art and works of architecture are similar in the way that they attempt to express meaning and context just as works of art do. Some works of architecture and public art almost become abstract symbols in the space where they are situated. This can be seen in architecture such as the Imperial War Museum North and the Jewish Museum Berlin by Daniel Libeskind, and in works of public art, such as the Angel of the North (Fig. 2.) in Gateshead.
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Chris Burden and Suzi Gablik, The Reenchantement of Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 1991), pp. 79-80.
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SECTION 3: THE BRIDGE BETWEEN
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INTRODUCTION: THE MUSEUM SPACE
‘A museum that makes such an insistent claim on our visual interest might challenge the art at its own game.’27
A museum is the telling of cultural history; most take objects from the past and exhibit them in such a way as to tell a story. The objects or artefacts can be cared for and conserved within museum spaces and be exhibited to the public or be carefully preserved behind the scenes. A museum can hold a variety of objects often based on the same subject area. These objects located in museums generally carry a large historical, artistic or cultural importance; ‘Anthropologist James Clifford has suggested that museums are contact zones, places of exchange between cultures.’28 Museums are typically stand-alone commissions in architectural practice, which result in the individual spaces for the exhibits being correctly suited to their specific use and needs. Spaces within the museum should offer an insight using the information, objects or artefacts it possesses, and therefore ensuring the visitor leaves the museum with a clear understanding of the message the museum is attempting to convey. Museums are educational experiences in which the visitor is expected to emerge with more knowledge and a larger awareness than they had when they entered; these educational experiences can be achieved through displays or when the architectural space itself creates an experience. 27
Hal Foster, The Art-Architecture Complex (London: Verso, 2013), pp. 91-92. James Clifford, ‘An ethnographer in the field’, interview by Alex Coles, in Site Specificity: The Ethnographic Turn, ed. by Alex Coles (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2000), pp. 56-7. 28
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An architect must be conscious of the display within the museum or else the building and the collection situated within will look out of place, and will not seem to have any relationship or conversation with each other. Daniel Libeskind, an architect who has designed many museums to date, has described how closely he works with those who are involved with the arrangement of the collections and displays within the museum. He believes, ‘a museum has a mission to foster and nurture imagination and creativity,’ and therefore that the architecture of the museum should reflect this.29 A museum must be carefully designed, with every space being useful for the exhibition, however in some of the most affective and emotive museums there are spaces which are designed not for the exhibition itself but to become a piece of the exhibition in their own right. These are spaces which are intended to continue the conversion that the exhibition is having with the visitor, which do not involve an exhibitional item or work, but which creates an experience using the architectural space alone. There are numerous ‘museums that are taken to be massive works of sculpture in their own right.’30 These museums focus on the aesthetics and the impact the museum has on its immediate surroundings, just as art attempts to do. The similarities between art and architecture begin to appear in the design of museums in respect to when an architect tries to create an experiential space which has a large effect on those who visit it, the same way an artist attempts to with a work of art. When a museum uses experiences within spaces to achieve translating the overall understanding and meaning of the exhibition or topic area, a bridge between art and architecture begins to appear. Daniel Libeskind in particular uses the work of 29 30
Daniel Libeskind, Counterpoint (New York: Monacelli Press, 2008), p. 15. Hal Foster, pp. 243-244.
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architecture itself and the spaces within to create the correct atmospheres and experiences within the museum. By doing so this ensures that the visitor leaves with the emotion and awareness that the architect feels the viewer should have of the exhibition in the museum; two key examples of this in his architectural works are the Imperial War Museum North in the UK and the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
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Fig. 3. IWM North
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Fig. 4. IWM North Conceptual Diagram
CHAPTER 1: THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM NORTH
‘Libeskind’s architecture offers a number of different architectural experiences – intellectual, emotional and physical.’31
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) North is located in Manchester, in the recently regenerated Salford Quays area, which was severely affected by WWII. The area was one of many which was heavily bombed during the Manchester blitz in the Second World War, and the IWM North is devoted to enabling the people from the northern areas to learn about the history of the wars, past and present, and other conflicts which occurred along the way. The IWM North is now an iconic structure of remembrance and also now an important part of the skyline of Manchester. The exhibition itself is all about the people involved in the wars, their own stories and experiences. The design of the building itself is ‘based on a globe shattered by conflict into 3 pieces or shards.’32 It is based on this world, the current, contemporary world, which is devastated by war and broken into fragments, shards, pieces which are too damaged to be correctly pieced together again. The building ‘offers an environment, in which the participatory experience of the public would begin long before the visitors enter through the actual doors,’33 which is due to the appearance and design
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Jane Rendell, p. 133. Smith and others, Imperial War Museum North Guidebook (London: IWM, 2014), p. 5. 33 Daniel Libeskind, Daniel Libeskind: The Space of Encounter (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), p. 63. 32
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Fig. 5. Air Shard
of the exterior façade, and the impact and effect it has when it first becomes visible to the visitor. What makes the IWM North unique is how the concept of the ‘three interlocking shards, broken pieces of a world shattered by war and conflict, each with its own distinct shape,’34 create the exterior of the museum itself; by doing this the architecture explains the clear message the museum it attempting to translate to the public, before they enter the museum itself. The Air Shard (Fig. 5.) is a tower where you can get views of the surrounding area and the city of Manchester itself, the Earth Shard is the name of the main gallery space where the exhibitions are located and the Water Shard houses the café by the canal. These features, representing the shattered world, are what make the IWM North a key example of an iconic piece of architecture that is dealt with as though it was a world of art. What makes the building more distinctive is the ‘integration of architecture, exhibition design, engineering and a vision of history and the future.’35 This makes the IWM North an ‘award-winning museum with a difference’,’36 cautiously shaping together the architecture and exhibition spaces. The spaces within the museum use the exhibition items and the architecture itself to tell the stories and experiences of various conflicts and wars, from the point of view of the people affected by them. From my own experience, there are several the architectural aspects of the IWM North, which evoke specific feelings and emotions within a space. For example when entering the Air Shard tower you become suddenly vulnerable and exposed to the elements, due to the openness and gaps in the materials surrounding you. An experience such as this, which seems disconcerting, can be found elsewhere in the 34
Smith and others, p. 44. Ibid., p. 44. 36 Ibid., p. 4. 35
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Fig. 7. Exhibition
Fig. 6. Big Picture Show
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Fig. 8. Exhibition
museum spaces to reflect the significance of the effect of war and conflict that creates a feeling of vulnerability. In the Earth Shard, the displays in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;towering exhibition spaces within the Main Exhibition Space focus on the themes common to all wars from 1914 to the present.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;37 The experience changes as you walk through the main exhibition spaces as the ceiling heights vary and all the exhibitions feel very scattered. It is only at the end you begin to realise it is all situated in such a way that it leads you on a journey through the timeline they provide of the wars and conflicts. From my own experience of the space, the first impression of the main exhibition area was overwhelming. The unusual shapes and narrow, tall spaces with ceiling lights and indents that looked almost carved out, developed an unsettling feeling, in which I was in this large open space where the lighting varied and at points the entire room went dark and the Big Picture Show (Fig. 6.) was projected on the walls. At this moment in time I became surrounded by people and their experiences of conflict and war, and have no choice but to be taken into the lives of these people and this became an overwhelming experience that demanded my attention until all the films had stopped. Next I became aware of the ruin and destruction of war, and its impact on those people, and also the impact the stories had on me and others when the lights came back on, and we continued to travel around the timeline. I found that the experience focused on broken pieces, and people, shards and memories, and the impact conflict has on this contemporary world. The spaces within the museum were not only designed to house the exhibition pieces, they also became part of the exhibition themselves. From the concept, based on the globe being shattered and the three shards emerging from this, the Air, Earth and Water Shards, it is clear that the building has achieved a visual literal translation of the meaning behind the museum itself. With a unique and clear concept, and 37
Smith and others, p. 28.
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Fig. 9. IWM North
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spaces which create emotion and atmosphere, the IWM North undoubtedly relates to the principles of art as previously discussed. ‘One of the attributes of art, throughout all time and space, is undoubtedly its capability to move us,’38 which the IWM North achieves very effectively, using various architectural features such as the Air Shard tower which leaves you feeling unsettled as you are vulnerable and open to the elements. The IWM North could almost be mistaken for a work of public art from a distance as it has a unique shape and design. Art has the ability to translate a message across to the viewer, which the IWM North has been able to achieve by educating visitors about conflict and the impact it has. Libeskind created an emotional journey through the building for the visitor, which starts before you enter the doors, and as this journey continues, the architecture conveys the stories of the past with you.
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César Portela, Emotion and Reason in Architecture (Barcelona: Loft, 2012), p. 12.
41
Fig. 10. Jewish Museum Berlin
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CHAPTER 2: THE JEWISH MUSEUM BERLIN
‘His building is one of the most controversial and conceptual architectural projects of the last decade.’39
The Jewish Museum Berlin, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, communicates the Jewish-German story in the heart of the city. Libeskind, whose purpose it is to tell the history of Jewish Berlin through this building, created an entrance to the new museum through the old baroque building on site. In Libeskind’s design, the only way the Jewish Museum can be accessed is through the baroque building and then underground which is where the three corridors called the Axes (Fig. 13.) are found; these intersect and represent different paths of German-Jewish life. The three slanted corridors lead to separate areas of the museum; the first goes to a staircase leading to the permanent exhibition in the main building, the second leads to the Garden of Exile and the third leads to the Holocaust Tower. In the interior of the main building itself, designed in the shape of a zig-zag or lightning bolt, are spaces which are simply just empty voids. One void in particular, The Memory Void (Fig. 14.), contains artwork called Fallen Leaves, which consists of small pieces of metal with faces carved into them. These are located on the floor and the public are asked to walk on them and reflect as they do so, and listen to the sounds created from the process. The Holocaust Tower (Fig. 11.) is what Libeskind has called the ‘voided void;’ he states the tower is, ‘that which can never be exhibited when it comes to Jewish Berlin history’, ‘expressed through spatial emptiness in the 39
Jane Rendell, p. 132.
43
Fig. 12. Jewish Museum Berlin
Fig. 11. Holocaust Tower
Fig. 14. Memory Void
Fig. 13. Axes of Holocaust, Exile & Emigration
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architecture.’ 40 Libeskind has found a way to create an experience within this space by leaving it empty and dark, apart from one slit in the roof barely visible from below.41 Every detail of the architecture of the Jewish Museum Berlin expresses a message or meaning, one which the visitor will take away with them. The Jewish Museum Berlin was designed through an anonymous competition which Libeskind won, however through many years of changes and developments in the design he wanted to ensure certain atmospheric spaces remained; Libeskind wrote, ‘I strove to communicate that story, across the devastation of the Holocaust and beyond, through a building. Whatever the program, the Void, the Holocaust Tower, the Garden of Exile, the turns of history would always be there.’ 42 These key spaces within the museum are vital to producing experiential spaces, which cause an impact on the visiting public. This is what makes the Jewish Museum Berlin unique, its ability to incorporate and ‘integrate the meaning of the Holocaust, both physically and spiritually, into the consciousness and memory of the city of Berlin.’ 43 People of all walks of life enter the museum and are touched by the spaces, and experience the atmosphere and emotional impact of the specifically designed exhibitional masterpiece that is the architecture of the museum itself and the spaces within. The experiences and atmospheres presented within the walls of the Jewish Museum existed even before the exhibitions were moved into the building. An account of this experience was recorded by Jane Rendell: ‘When the museum first opened to the public, it was empty throughout and many visitors, myself included, remarked on how moved they were by this experience. The 40
Daniel Libeskind, Jewish Museum Berlin (Munich: Prestel, 1999), p. 20. Daniel Libeskind, Breaking Ground (London: John Murray, 2005), p. 84. 42 Daniel Libeskind, Counterpoint (New York: Monacelli Press, 2008), p. 10. 43 Daniel Libeskind, Jewish Museum Berlin, p.10. 41
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emptiness of the maze of corridors enhanced the expression of futility – there was nothing to do except walk, think and feel. Absence was presented as the subject matter of the museum.’44 This shows that it is the architecture that has provided an experience and created the atmosphere within the spaces. Libeskind has used the void to represent a space in German-Jewish history that cannot be repaired, however he wants people to not forget this void and to create awareness that this moment in history, the Holocaust, did happen but should not be forgotten, and the people who were killed should not be forgotten. The Jewish Museum Berlin has become a memorial based in Berlin for this, even though this was not the intended purpose Libeskind has produced a work of architecture in which thought and reflection are key and where the public can be reminded of the sorrows that once transpired. Libeskind has designed a museum which focuses on how the language of architecture can be translated into meaning and how it creates an experience for a visitor using spaces such as the voids. Of the conceptual themes which Libeskind used, the void is ‘the most spatial and easily translatable into architecture; it communicates through experience rather than as a representation; it shows rather than tells.’45 Using the absence of space is an effective way to make a person stop and reflect on what they have just seen; to enable a person to pause and question the exhibition and allow their emotions to take over while they are in this void. Libeskind, using concepts, has created a work of architecture which expresses the mourning of history and has become a sculptural work of art representing the stories of the people from this time in history. Libeskind’s intention for the building was ‘to design a museum that would communicate and engage the visitor on a mental, 44 45
Jane Rendell, p. 136. Ibid., p. 133.
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visceral, and emotional level with the Jewish dimension of Berlin and German history.’46 Libeskind is almost an artist in respect to how he treats the design of his building, his work of art; he ensures the message and concept are clear before the functional aspects of the build are concrete. A sculptor ensures the emotion and experience are visible from the start and before the practicalities of how to construct the work of art are clear, which ensures the concept remains strong throughout the design process through to the end. Libeskind used similar policies when he ‘sought to incorporate the Jewish experience’47 into the Jewish Museum Berlin. A work of art conveys a meaning or narrative to the viewer, behaviours which architecture can rarely achieve effectively; however Libeskind believes that, ‘a building is a medium to tell a story.’48 He has achieved this through the Jewish Museum, by using various architectural features to create the atmospheres and therefore creating the narrative he intended to. Just as with a work of art, the Jewish Museum creates a ‘conversation and dialogue with the visitors,’49 from the moment they enter the corridors underground right through to the Garden of Exile. To create this narrative and experience, architectural space has to become part of the story it intends to translate or communicate which Libeskind has achieved in the Jewish Museum Berlin effectively, for the public now look up to this work of art and visit it from all around the world not only to see the exhibition within the walls of the building but also to see the exhibition which is the architecture itself. A building, such as this museum, with exhibitionist qualities is a sculpture or work of art in its own right.
46
Daniel Libeskind, Daniel Libeskind: The Space of Encounter (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001), p. 25. Ibid., p. 24. 48 Daniel Libeskind, Counterpoint, p. 10. 49 Ibid., p. 13. 47
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CONCLUSION
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;To this end, I have sought to create a new architecture for a time that would reflect an understanding of history, a new understanding of museums, and a new realization of the relationship between program and architectural space. Therefore, this museum is not only a response to a particular program, but an emblem of hope.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;50
There are some elements of architectural design that are more liberal than others to the point where they cross the bridge from architecture over to art. Architectural design is more restricted than art because there is a growing pressure to design buildings within the terms that the architectural profession sets. However, advances in technology have led to it becoming easier to design more complex forms whilst still abiding by the rules of architectural design, allowing the boundaries to be tested. This leads to architects focusing more on the experience within the space rather than whether the space can perform its intended function. Spaces within buildings can be used to develop an experience for the visitor and from this evoke an emotional response. An intense atmosphere within a space can leave a lasting impression in the mind of the visitor. An architect is able to control the atmosphere within the space to create the intended experience and emotion, similar to the way an artist can produce a work of art which can evoke specific emotions. A person subconsciously evaluates the work of art or architecture and draws their own conclusions from this, which leads to an emotional response. 50
Daniel Libeskind, Daniel Libeskind: The Space of Encounter, p. 28.
48
An architectural space, as with a work of art, can present an experience and introduce a narrative of the buildings meaning; this develops the relationship between the visitor and the space. Art is driven by conceptual ideas and focuses on how it can communicate this across to the viewer visually. An architect, such as Libeskind, who wishes to convey a concept cannot always achieve the communication of the concept visually and therefore, uses experience of architectural space to do this. By creating atmospheres within architectural space which can evoke emotion can lead to a person being as moved by the building as they can be by a painting, music or literature. A work of art can tell a story which the viewer can interpret in their own way, and this is the same in architecture where a narrative needs to be told. An example of this is within a museum where the story of history is presented to the visitor, such as in the IWM North or the Jewish Museum Berlin, as previously discussed. As a visitor journeys through the spaces, they interpret the narrative conveyed by the space as well as looking at the exhibition itself. A building, in which the spaces have exhibitionistic qualities, can easily convey the concept or meaning it intends to express. A museum is a key example of a building in which a narrative must be told which is usually achieved using the exhibition alone. The case studies in this report described a new element in the IWM North in Manchester and the Jewish Museum Berlin, where the building becomes part of the exhibition. A museum which has an instant claim on the visual attention of a person can challenge the exhibition itself. Museums are designed to be educational experiences and are focused on telling the story through visual aspects as with art. By making the spaces within the museums link to the concepts he created, Libeskind produced experiences which were intellectual, emotional and physical. He was able to move people using the atmospheres developed within the architectural spaces, a push this emotional state further as the 49
50
Fig. 15. Jewish Museum Berlin
person journeyed through the building and exhibitions. For example he creates an emotional impact using strong atmospheric spaces within the museum such as the Holocaust Tower and Memory Void. The IWM North almost becomes a sculpture to represent terrible events that happened during WWII. From my own experience I found the IWM North similar to a work of art because I experienced various emotions in every stage of the journey. The IWM North used different elements to create these such as the Air Shard leaving me feeling vulnerable and exposed, it used dark narrow spaces to leave me unsettled, and all the while I was following the timeline of the history of various wars which in itself was disturbing. I left this museum with a greater understanding, not only of the facts from conflicts of the past but also an overwhelming experience from the spaces within. A visitor to a building such as this subconsciously opens themselves up to it as they would a work of art, and allows the physical and sensory aspects of the spaces to express their meaning, creating an experience which evokes an emotional response. From my own experience I found the IWM North to be a bridge between art and architecture due to the experience I had within the spaces of the museum. Through my research I have discovered that the Jewish Museum Berlin creates a deeper and more meaningful experience and connection to the city it is situated in. The Jewish Museum Berlin has not only become a memorial to those that suffered in the Holocaust but also a celebration of life and signifies hope. It has become an abstract symbol in the city of Berlin of remembrance. The museum effectively tells the story of German-Jewish history through various elements of the architectural spaces throughout the entire building. By using aspects of art such as strong concepts and experiences within atmospheric spaces, which evoke intense emotional responses, the Jewish Museum in Berlin is a contemporary example of both a work of art and architecture and therefore a bridge between the two. 51
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Burden, Chris, and Suzi Gablik, The Reenchantement of Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 1991) Clifford, James, ‘An ethnographer in the field’, interview by Alex Coles, in Site Specificity: The Ethnographic Turn, ed. by Alex Coles (London: Black Dog Publishing, 2000) Foster, Hal, The Art-Architecture Complex (London: Verso, 2013), Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture (New York: Dover Publications, 1986) LeWitt, Sol, ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,’ Artforum (Summer 1967) <http://radicalart.info/concept/LeWitt/paragraphs.html> [accessed 19 December 2014] (p. 1). Libeskind, Daniel, Breaking Ground (London: John Murray, 2005) Libeskind, Daniel, Counterpoint (New York: Monacelli Press, 2008) Libeskind, Daniel, Daniel Libeskind: The Space of Encounter (London: Thames & Hudson, 2001) Libeskind, Daniel, Jewish Museum Berlin (Munich: Prestel, 1999), Pallasmaa, Juhani, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2012) Phillips, Patricia C., ‘Temporality and public art’, in Critical Issues in Public Art, Content, Context and Controversy, ed. by Harriet F Senie and Sally Webster (New York: Harper Collins, 1992) Portela, César, Emotion and Reason in Architecture (Barcelona: Loft, 2012) Rendell, Jane, Art and Architecture: A Place Between (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006) Smith and others, Imperial War Museum North Guidebook (London: IWM, 2014) Zumthor, Peter, Thinking Architecture (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006)
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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS COVER PAGE: Figure 1
IWM North. Sketch, Yasmin Kelly
SECTION 2: Figure 2
Angel of the North. [Online Digital Image] http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1854/275/1600/0604-16%20Angel%2018.jpg
SECTION 3: Figure 3
IWM North. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
Figure 4
IWM North Conceptual Diagram. Postcard Sketch, Daniel Libeskind, IWM.
Figure 5
Air Shard. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
Figure 6
Big Picture Show. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
Figure 7
Exhibition. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
Figure 8
Exhibition. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
Figure 9
IWM North. Photograph, Yasmin Kelly.
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Figure 10
Jewish Museum Berlin. [Online Digital Image] http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/Overall-Composition-of-JMB-cBitterBredt.jpg
Figure 11
Holocaust Tower. [Online Digital http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/Holocaust-Tower-cBitterBredt.jpg
Figure 12
Jewish museum Berlin. [Online Digital Image] http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/Aerial-View-1-c-GuenterSchneider.jpg
Figure 13
Axes of Holocaust, Exile and Emigration. [Online Digital Image] http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/Undergroung-Roads-cBitterBredt.jpg
Figure 14
Memory Void. [Online Digital Image] http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/JMB-Void-c-Torsten-Seidel.jpg
Figure 15
Jewish Museum Berlin. [Online Digital Image] http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2012/04/JMB-Next-to-Original-BaroqueBuilding-c-BitterBredt.jpg
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