The Chevalier of Masks, the King of Stones, and the Second Major Arcana Met...

I run from him who hunts me,
the hunted from the hunter,
his hounding presence haunts me,
and allows but bitter rest.

Mind reeling, scratching, scrambling,
screeching, sinking, plunging
clawing, tearing, spiraling
spiraling wildly down.

Fingers raking for an anchor.
Clutching, clutching for an answer.
Grasping, grasping but there is nothing -
but there is nothing there.

He ripped them from their roots, he did!
From their very roots, he did!
A thousand empty sockets,
stare out from empty field,
look out to empty sockets,
reach in to emptiness.

And now I've found some stillness,
within this mad-house world,
within this weeping world.
In this shattered haven,
this crumbling shattered haven,
this tattered matted haven,
I've found my happiness.

My thoughts wheel 'round the ruins,
around the crumbled ruins
there's solace in the shadows...
... and safety with the Beast.

Thesis Abstract 02

Facing Temporality: The Architecture of Atmospheres

Atmospheres are spaces that have the ability to move us. Their presence stirs in the depths of our subconscious, and demands an emotional understanding of place – they are, by this nature, illusive and resistant to definition. This thesis makes reference to the study of atmospheres as it is approached in three schools of thought; the phenomenology of space, architecture as it is processed by the senses, and understanding atmospheres in their typologies. Peter Zumthor catalogues the varying sensory properties of building materials and their effect on the mood of a space, while simultaneously defining atmospheres through relentlessly descriptive writings, and imagery to further convey his meaning. In the work of Juhani Pallasmaa, our experience of space is more strictly attributed to the five senses, with criticism placed on our reliance on the visual aspects of architecture. Gaston Bachelard, in his The Poetics of Space, breaks atmospheres into their typologies in order to further understand the character of certain spaces. This thesis focuses on the Atmosphere of Decay, and how it approaches the burial site in contemporary culture; for it is in understanding these spaces that we can begin to understand our own temporality.

It is the intention of this thesis to further explore and unveil the meaning of experiential space, and to uncover the beauty inherent in the natural process of decay. How does a space of great presence and distinct character come to exist? What is it that defines an atmosphere? The cool, awe-striking serenity of an expansive stone cathedral, the invigorating warmth and bustle of a vibrant city marketplace, the charming golden haze of a haphazard night-time cafe; atmospheric places evoke emotion, sensation, and memory, giving identity to both visitor and architecture. How can atmosphere respond to the question most deeply rooted in our collective human identity, that of death, and what is its role in fathoming the unfathomable?

In an attempt to answer these questions the thesis will rigorously document atmospheres with the presence of temporality. Spaces that have succumbed to the natural process of decay will be explored in great detail through the employment of photography, film, watercolour painting, literature, and installation work. The methodology used will develop a language for discussing the atmospheric qualities of space, and conveying the experiential identity of the environments documented. Film is intended to capture the expanse and eerie stillness of decay, while painting, writing, and photography are the means of capturing the mood of the space. Installation art will encompass all of the aforementioned qualities and will serve to communicate the intense emotional understanding of place to others.

P02 Contextual Montage

Using the technique of montage, develop three drawings that situate your thesis topic within its relevant contexts, issues, discourses and assumptions.




Destabilising Otherness

The Homely becoming Unhomely; the familiar becoming estranged, abandoned and lifeless. This sensation, felt at the sight of architectural decay and darkness, differs from the awe-striking power of the Sublime. The Uncanny is fearsome in its subtleties, in its ability to emerge from within ourselves; where the sublime is impressed upon us, the Uncanny finds its origins in the shadowy pools of our thoughts - what we thought of as recognizable takes on the eerie precipice of the unknown.

"The house, like man, can become a skeleton. A superstition is enough to kill it. Then it is terrible." Hugo, Les Travailleurs

This montage sought to take an object of familiarity and make it unfamiliar in its decay, representing 'the Other'. The School of Architecture was artificially aged using a collection of photographs taken of the decayed spaces throughout the city of Cambridge - these were then grafted on to the building.



























Liminal Lullaby

The second of the three montages depicted a catalogue of vacant death beds. The aesthetic of the image was deliberately shrouded so as to obscure the image slightly, making it appear separate from the onlooker, as though it is hidden under the surface of water. Various beds are portrayed in which the threshold from this life to the unknown next is traversed; among them, a prison bed, an operating table, a hosptial cot, a lethal injection bed, and the beds at Auschwitz. The beds are empty - the onlooker cannot know what event has taken place, but can only sense the atmosphere of the images, and thus interpret them. This montage strives to take one of the most familiar and 'homely' objects, and transform it into the Uncanny.


The(y) Past in the Current

The last of the montages is a depiction of the Richview Memorial Cemetery, at the intersection of the highways 401, and the 427, in Toronto. It attempts to show the distortion of the senses at this site, and the eeriness of the motion that surrounds the stillness of the cemetery. This montage is a palimpsest. It layers both the lives of those who settled in the original community of Richview (a town long since swallowed by the tides of time), and the lives of those who contributed to the building of the infrastructure that surrounds it. The history of the city is depicted here, superimposed on the current condition of the cemetery, at the centre of one of the busiest intersections of Canada. This cemetery has seen generations come and go, the land change from fields to limbs of steel and concrete - it has stood sentinel, a witness to the passing of time.