KONTRAPUNKT
VASTNESS THROUGH CONTRADICTION
The project investigate the qualities of vastness with the aim of designing a market on Dresden‘s Altmarkt, a square situated in the historic center of the city. Architectural examples of the use of perspectival tricks to make a space larger than it is, can be found as early as the renaissance. Architects developed a repertoire of techniques ranging from the careful use of proportions to the choice of materials. An initial spatial diagram was created based on a series of precedent studies of renaissance and baroque buildings, as well as research on spatial relationships and spatial framing.
These investigations, conducted to better grasp the intangible notion of vastness, led to the realization that vastness cannot be measured, but is a continuous feeling of ambiguity. This ambiguity is a result of constant uncertainty about distance and scale, which can be created through architecture.