The Blessing of the Sky
The sky has always carried a profound and sacred meaning. Through some instinctive process, Man has perceived it as the abode of the gods. Hence to climb a sacred path to the top of the hill, where the Immortals dwell, is a paradigm of such mythic power that it has been central to the beliefs of almost every society, since the beginning of time.
Thus the great Hindu temples of South India are not just a collection of shrines and gopurams, but the ritualistic open-to-sky pathways that lie between them. And in the North, the palaces of Rajasthan and the forts of the Moghul Emperors are always crowned with an architectonic syntax which interlocks builtform with sky-as witness, the wonderfully evocative chattris (umbrellas) along the roof scape, capturing fragments of the infinite sky above. Down the centuries, this sense of the Sky has been truly profound-affecting decisively our relationship to builtform, and to open space. It is also pragmatic: in the warm climate of India, the best place to be in the late evenings, and in the early mornings, is outdoors, under the open sky. Such spaces have an infinite number of variations: one steps out of a room...into a verandah...and thence on to a terrace...from which one proceeds to an open courtyard, perhaps shaded by a tree...or by a large pergola overhead. At each moment, subtle changes in the quality of the ambient air and light generate feelings within us-feelings which are central to our beings. Thus to us in Asia, the symbol of Education has never been the Little Red Schoolhouse of North America, but the guru sitting under the tree. True Enlightenment cannot be achieved within the closed box of a room-one needs must be outdoors, under the open sky. The blessings of the sky are truly munificent-and this exhibition seeks to illustrate three of the most crucial:
l. The first is the extraordinary metaphysical aspects of open-to sky space to which we have just alluded-a phenomenon so fundamental to the ancient perception of Architecture as a Model of the Cosmos.
2. The second looks at the relevance of such spaces to the Public Realm-in particular, to Museums, where the fatigue of walking through room after room of exhibits exhausts most visitors. We need to investigate alternate models, ones which include moments where the spatial experience changes and our eyes (and beings) can berefreshed. In these alternatives, a pattern of open-to-sky spaces can constitute the primary ordering principle.
3. The third looks at Housing-an area where these open-to-sky spaces are of truly fundamental importance. After the heat of an Indian day, to sit outdoors on a lawn, or to sleep on a terrace at night under the stars, is truly an ineffable pleasure. These open-to-sky spaces are essential in the creation of habitat-not only for the affluent (hence the bungalows set in gardens), but also for the poorest families cramped into a single room, where such terraces and courtyards constitute an additional room, usable for a myriad of essential everday activities.
Götz Adriani
Thus the great Hindu temples of South India are not just a collection of shrines and gopurams, but the ritualistic open-to-sky pathways that lie between them. And in the North, the palaces of Rajasthan and the forts of the Moghul Emperors are always crowned with an architectonic syntax which interlocks builtform with sky-as witness, the wonderfully evocative chattris (umbrellas) along the roof scape, capturing fragments of the infinite sky above. Down the centuries, this sense of the Sky has been truly profound-affecting decisively our relationship to builtform, and to open space. It is also pragmatic: in the warm climate of India, the best place to be in the late evenings, and in the early mornings, is outdoors, under the open sky. Such spaces have an infinite number of variations: one steps out of a room...into a verandah...and thence on to a terrace...from which one proceeds to an open courtyard, perhaps shaded by a tree...or by a large pergola overhead. At each moment, subtle changes in the quality of the ambient air and light generate feelings within us-feelings which are central to our beings. Thus to us in Asia, the symbol of Education has never been the Little Red Schoolhouse of North America, but the guru sitting under the tree. True Enlightenment cannot be achieved within the closed box of a room-one needs must be outdoors, under the open sky. The blessings of the sky are truly munificent-and this exhibition seeks to illustrate three of the most crucial:
l. The first is the extraordinary metaphysical aspects of open-to sky space to which we have just alluded-a phenomenon so fundamental to the ancient perception of Architecture as a Model of the Cosmos.
2. The second looks at the relevance of such spaces to the Public Realm-in particular, to Museums, where the fatigue of walking through room after room of exhibits exhausts most visitors. We need to investigate alternate models, ones which include moments where the spatial experience changes and our eyes (and beings) can berefreshed. In these alternatives, a pattern of open-to-sky spaces can constitute the primary ordering principle.
3. The third looks at Housing-an area where these open-to-sky spaces are of truly fundamental importance. After the heat of an Indian day, to sit outdoors on a lawn, or to sleep on a terrace at night under the stars, is truly an ineffable pleasure. These open-to-sky spaces are essential in the creation of habitat-not only for the affluent (hence the bungalows set in gardens), but also for the poorest families cramped into a single room, where such terraces and courtyards constitute an additional room, usable for a myriad of essential everday activities.
Götz Adriani
