project02:Frontpage

Interactions

Styling

Performance

Babel Tower: The Waste Land

author(s):Karolos Michailidis, Vasiliki Koliaki

INSPIRATION

== Through nature alone, Death has been reconnected with society and the city. T.S.Eliot’s The Waste Land conveys a post-apocalyptic society where the perils of immortality are expressed in the fragmented conversations of its inhabitants. This visionary poem is inspiring - through the narrator’s empirical memories which emanate a Life without Death, and the epigraph which describes the immortal Sibyl - each line convinces you of Death’s prestige.

The architecture captures the enormity of Death, enveloped in a veil of shadows which unite the fragmented building and provide the bare faces of concrete with texture, depth and detail, it evokes a three dimensional memento mori. The main core is not to frighten, but to become the Sublime, whilst allowing the mourner to extend their journey, and in essence the finality of the ‘good-bye’. Water as a symbol of purity, helps the process and makes the journey from the depth of the sea to the highest point in the sky, travelling side by side with the lost souls.

An architecture is proposed which expresses grief, but also one which provides solace, and more importantly it returns death to its rightful place within society - for death does not overlook the city, but it is part of it. Between the buildings of Rotterdam it connects water and sky, isolated from land but an integral part of the city, and fighting its way in society. Because it might sound unpleasant and unwelcoming but the the trip of Life is most certainly full of experiences. A location where the dead and the still living can meet- where religion is not a barrier and where faith is a personal way of expression. But how can people of different religions in a multi-cultural society interact and establish a peaceful and balanced co-existence in this Babel Tower? ==

Connections

Vasiliki Koliaki,