Stage and character.


We feel space


Between two points there is a distance. This distance separates one point from the other. It is what allows two points to exist. If there is no distance, there is only one point. What then is this distance, this space between?

Space separates and distinguishes. Through the act of separation, a figure is not only created, but emphasized. As a figure, an isolated element, certain traits are inherent. These traits, or characteristics, establish the figure as a unique entity. When one element shares a space with another, they instantly become characters. A dialog is created. I use the term character because a narrative ensues. One relates to the other.

This is the power of architecture, because it is spatial, it celebrates the occupant as a point in space. However, this space in which one is contained is not merely void. As Foucault explains, “We are living not in a homogeneous and empty space but on the contrary, in a space that is laden with qualities, a space that may also be haunted by fantasy”(1). True magic lies in the power of the mind of the occupant. This is when characters perform.

In addition to spatiality, architecture’s other great force is time. Time allows experience. It allows the observer, as a point, to become a line. Movement. This is the moment when one is truly able to relate to (or with) architecture. Time allows for space to unfold, narrative to unravel, and for dreamscapes to be traversed. Through this experience, one is able to become familiar with the characters contained within a space. One comes to know them for what they are, a figure within the space, as he/she is. A grouping of characters do not in themselves constitute a whole. As a group, they are able to extend beyond as a part of a greater whole that may or may not exist. Space is felt.
- An architecture of characters.


“Now the painting is looking at me” – Paul Klee


1. “Different Spaces” Michel Foucault