t
Page | 9
BERNARD TSCHUMI
Pyramid and Labyrinth
Tschumi calls that relationship as
“a paradox” because he thinks
that to "define/describe space"
can be either considering the
“physical border lines of space”
or defining the “non-material
being of the space”. This
paradoxical relationship creates
the problem of an inequality
between ideal space (the result
of cognitive process) and real
space (the outcome of real
production) and he sees this
http://www.tschumi.com/projects/47/
split as intrinsic to architecture.
There is pyramid (absolute truth)
and labyrinth (sensory space)
which are used by Hollier and
Bataille. Hollier is using the word
“pyramid” in contrast to
“labyrinth” of Batalle. Pyramid is
referring to the “representation”
such as monuments. They are all
created to represent something
http://www.frac-centre.fr/gestion/public/upload/oeuvre/maxi/TSCH_992_01_59.jpg
other than architecture itself
such as the social, political,
cultural, economic conditions of
the society; power of the God or
government / king etc. Labyrinth
is what we sense and what we
experience; it is subjective.
However, architecture owns
both of them at the same time
so that we have the problem of
inequality between what is ideal
and what we have as real.
__________________________
Tschumi,
Bernard.
The
Architectural Paradox’, pp. 214229, in K. Michael Hays (ed.)
Architecture Theory Since 1968
(Cambridge Mass: The MIT
Press, 1998).
BEYOND ARCHITECTURE | SUMMER 2015 | ISSUE 1