0.0.0 Blank architecture is produced by a quality defined as architectural blankness.
A hole of matter is a blank ’surface’ capable of reflecting our deepest personal ambitions, fears and illusions. It functions as a mirrored glass door: it allows us to go inside but it also reflects our movement toward it. Its blankness is appealing yet it can also be deceiving.
Blankness does not equal emptiness. Holes of matter are not empty: the amount of information they contained is only limited by our ability (developed capacity and tools available) to look into their blankness. A blank hole can be completely empty and infinitely full at the same time.
Today, communication systems such as the Internet, email, and mobile phones, regulate our accessibility to information networks. However, these technologies also allow others to access us, to the extent that we ourselves become undistinguishable from other forms of information. Treated as a new type of commodity, similar to information, we can always be accessed regardless of our location. The need for private time—–a time only for ourselves when we are not a commodity accessible to others—–urges us to turn off these communication devices, leaving us nevertheless burdened with a sense of guilt. There is societal pressure to stay connected, constantly eliminating any possibility of hiding.
I believe that it is only through the spatial reorganization of the public environment that this private time could successfully be implemented. Projects grouped under this category propose a new type of public realm with the capacity of establishing blank gaps of personal time:
Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, does not exist. However, and despite the numerous scientific studies undertaken that have yielded no positive proof whatsoever, people continue to see her year after year.
In reality, Loch Ness works as a blank surface allowing people to see what they want or need to see. In the end, it is irrelevant whether Nessie exists or not. But what it is absolutely criticial is the existence of Loch Ness, since it is the surface of this lake—–working as a double-way mirror—–what enables people to finally perceive their deepest fears and fascinations while they can simultaneously watch themselves indulge in them.
Closed-eye vision is what you see when you spend some time in a darkened room or when you keep your eyes closed for some time under specific mental conditions of relaxation and/or concentration—–without sleeping, of course.
π is a non-periodic infinite number. Within its decimals you can find any relationship between numbers that you can imagine. The positions of these decimals are fixed—–they always remain in the same place—–but the relationships between them are not defined—–π is a non-periodic number—–and this stream of numbers can, therefore, reflect your own projection when looking into them.
