Blind Spots - Archipelago of the Hidden

“Blind Spots – Archipelago of the Hidden” presents an attempt to explore the role of visual shielding in architecture by evaluating the conditions under which it emerges, by drawing the patterns of its appearance and by showing its influences on the people involved.

„The trouth is that in this house with its four walls of glass I feel like a prowling animal, always on the alert. I am always restless. Even in the evening. I feel like a sentinel on guard day and night. I can rarely stretch out and relax... […] the house is transparent, like an X-ray.“ This quote of Edith Farnsworth, published by Joseph A. Barry in House Beautiful 95, shows the discontent of the client about the lack of blind spots in her new weekend home. The proposal for an adaptation of the Farnsworth House is part of a more general research about the role of visual shielding in architecture.\nAs people all over the world use architecture everyday, it seems to be one of the most important tools for social interaction. I'm interested in how it regulates our co-existence, not only as a condenser, but also as an obstruction.\nEach opaque element – wall, ceiling, or pillar – has the potential to interfere with the sight between two people. Under these circumstances architecture has an immediate impact on our social structures by disrupting the most important factor for direct communication. Blind Spots cannot be analysed from an ego-logical perspective. They need to be watched from the sidelines. The following results are observations on observations, to make visible what is hidden from view.\nThe Blind Spot is defined as a lack of information for the visual perception of the particular viewer, caused by architecture. This leads to the fact that it becomes subject of speculation. The hidden takes a virtual dimension in form of perceptual hypotheses. The mapping, materialisation and simulation of the resulting virtual, but non-digital space is content of my thesis.