The Research

In the first phase, I made a couple of models from cardboard with printed textures to do a few light studies in them. I wanted to look for what exactly is making a space atmospheric. Wat I noticed was that darkness is similar to mass. Just as how we carve out mass, we could also carve out darkness using rays of light. And it is by carving out mass that we are allowing light enter a dark space...

A lot of our sight is taken away within a dark space. If we add silence to it, it almost becomes eerie. But when rays of light enter the dark space, a specific spot becomes emphasised right where the light is touching. Something is being carefully or very specifically revealed to us. Theatrical lights from scenography have inspired me among other things. The sensitivity of the materiality is emphasised by not making everything visible at once. This is what is making the space atmospheric: the charm of contrast between light and darkness.

In my research I found out that the duality between mass and darkness means the following: where there is mass, there is shadow - where there is void, there is light. But we cannot have one without the other. We need surfaces of mass volumes to catch the light as well as voids where darkness can manifest. Strong rays and drop shadows become the pattern in a space with volumes with sharp edges.

From the results I gathered from the light studies in the cardboard models I learnt how light and shadow could shape the space in carved out surfaces. The next step I took was to try this out by starting to carve out a space myself. I decided to cast a concrete model. Although the mold is the inversion of the model, it remains the same principle and method but inverted. I took parts out of volumes in order to illuminate specific surfaces and to leave other parts in darkness. That is how the spaces are given shape.

Shadow encompasses us the way mass surrounds us.

Studio: Drawing Architecture
Year: 2019
Mentors: Mira Sanders & Riet Eeckhout