Building From Within | The Archetypal Roots of Architecture
Is there a connection between the development of man and the creation of architecture? We believe so, and we will outline our argument. We will also explain why many architectural works are incomplete and lack some of the fundamental stages of development.
Collective Unconscious – First Stage of Development
The World of Archetypes – The World of Platonic Ideas: This is the starting point. The prevailing psychological theory is that a baby’s mind (psyche) is made up entirely of the collective unconscious, and its ego is not yet formed. This means that the filter of semantics does not exist yet. Everything is seen as a unified whole, rather than as separate entities (context – starting point). However, as Jung says, “differentiation is creation,” and according to the natural progression of human life, symbols begin to gradually form. Just as with people, the design of any building starts from this collective whole – the Platonic-Euclidean world – from which simple forms are distilled to become the building blocks of future compositions. These forms are pure and unaffected by ego projections; they are recognized through the universal qualities of Platonic ideas – Triangle, Rectangle, and Circle.
Persona 1.0 – Duality – Second Stage of Development – Deconstruction
The will is formed, and personal perspectives take shape. The once indivisible whole becomes dualistic. There is one “I” that is made up of multiple internal elements, while the external “many” has a strong philosophical connection to the concept of unity.
Architecture exists in two dimensions: horizontal and vertical. It also has two ontological voids: doors and windows. These aesthetic choices make up the final desired result. However, since they exist as isolated individual elements at this stage, their combined relationship to the contextual discourse is not yet visible.
Persona 2.0 – Shadow – Parallel Second Stage of Development – Integration
The antithesis and negation of the principle.
Anti-examples in architecture and how to use them
“And those who want to remain pure must understand that they must cleanse themselves in dirty water” F. Nietzsche.
What does this sentence mean?
Our initial understanding is that “dirtying” oneself is a necessary component of growth and maturity (cleansing). To lead a proper life, we must be open to both dirty water and washing in it. Those who seek individuation must also be ready for conflict.
“Cleansing in dirty water” refers to the concept of the anti-example. With this non-example, Nietzsche introduces a broader ethical framework that is different from dualistic ethics (good-bad). Instead, it is a three-fold framework (good-not-good-whole).
We cleanse ourselves in dirty water, not pollute, as Nietzsche’s image shows. Nietzsche was skilled in using multiple meanings in linguistic-philosophical terms. Cleansing through conflict is a recent, metaphorical approach.
Summary of the quote:
In our world, everything is imbued with meaning. This meaning encompasses not only the positive examples of a phenomenon but also its negative counterpart. These two polarities exist in a singularity, forming two sets and a relative relationship. The concept of negation is therefore one of three ontological phenomena.
Although it can be challenging, it is possible to master the art of following positive examples. A moral compass is something we all strive for, but learning from negative examples is more difficult. These examples are not easily defined and are often reduced to our own interpretation and some form of representation, such as an image, sound, or language.
The negative example is the opposite of the positive example, but capturing this opposition can be difficult as it is in its earliest manifestation, encompassing everything except the positive example in the entire universe. This leads to a broad range of different negative examples.
Based on the context and negative examples surrounding the referenced positive example, our hero derives a “lesson.” This lesson cannot be obtained from simply studying the positive example, but instead arises from the negative examples.
Given that negative examples are prevalent in our world, it is important for a wise person to learn how to use them, rather than avoiding them, to gain knowledge. These negative examples, interpreted and located on the inside of infinity, are necessary building blocks for the intro-structure of our understanding.