27.09.

2016

MagrtteE_tot.html

MagrttetheArchtecturologst[1]
Regardng
thecomplementarystructure
ofarchtecturalspace
ByNoldEgenter

"TheyspeakaboutNeon,Imyselfabouttruth"[2]

INTRODUCTION
Magrtteandartfcalntellgence?Arewenotatthewrongplace?Onethngsforsure,surrealsmhas
remanedmysterousformany,partcularlyntshomewthnart.Maybethefarlyunusualmleuquten
thesenseofMagrtteallowsustoputdownthenormalblurredspectaclesofarttheoretcansandtousethe
clearvewofartfcalntellgencetogannewnsghts.
IstnotstrangethatcomputerfreaksarealsooftenfansofMagrtte.Dalogueasaformofprovocaton.
Strangerelatvesaremet.Everyoneknowsthattheggantcdreamofaglobalcommuncatonnetworks
basedonasupersmpleprncple."Bt",tscalled,anabbrevatonforbnarydgt,whchmeansbnary
number.Itsthesmallestpossblememoryuntofanydatasystem.Itcanonlyregsterthevalues0or1.The
Btsthebassofthebnarynumeralsystemsandofbnarycodng.Onthsmostelementarybnarystructure
of'nothngandone',furtheruntsaresupported,the"Byte",further,theword,fnallythewholemanfoldof
programs.Gameswthpctures.Textprocessng.Admnstratvedatabases.Datacommuncatonnetworks
belongtotandrecentlyalsoCAD,whchmoreandmoreenterscreatvelyntotheworldofdesgn.
AllthosewhotrytogananovervewofMagrtte'soeuvrewllsoondscovertowhatextentarchtecture
wthconcreteformatonsofspaceandevenfurnture,playsanemnentrole.Whateverhepantsnhs
techncallyfarlyclumsyway,theunrealsprtualgansmomentumthroughtherealandalwaysmoreorless
turnsaroundhumandwellngntsobjectveandrelatveformatons.Inmostcasesthevewpontofthe
observerssomehowhousedorsheltered.Theobserverlooksthroughwndowsanddoorstowardsoutsde,
looksfromabalconyontotheocean,etc..Magrttecomposesmobleormmobleelementsofthebult
envronment.Healsodstortstherrelatons.Thslegtmatesustolookathspctureswththeoptcsof
archtecturaltheory.Wewllseethatnthswayhsdelberatedstortonscanbeunderstoodtoagreatextent.
Thsssobecausethecomplexof'buldnganddwellng'contansthedefntonsofhsformalelementsand
alsobecausethercharacterstcsareknown.ThecosmosofMagrtte,hsunverse,sdoubtlessnotthe
abstractspaceofphyscs,northespaceofpsychology.Magrttedealswththephyscalspaceofarchtecture,
hetransmtshsdeaswththelanguageofculturallyformedbultspace.Magrtteanarchtecturologst?Ishe
reallyanarchtecturaltheoretcan,anarchtecturalresearchernthewdesthumaneoranthropologcal
sense?AttheendwewllseethatMagrttequestonsnotonlyourmodernnterpretatonofspacethereare
ndcators,thatheoffersanewworldofarchtecturalunderstandngwthhscomplementarypartclesofbult
space.Lkethenewmeansofstorngmemory,theymghtbecomefrutfulforamorehumanearchtecture.
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THEDOORATTHEBEACH

Fg.1:Theusualdoorbetweenearthandocean,ntermngledntsformwthheavenandearth,whathasttosayhere?Taken
offfromtstradtonalmleu,ttellsuswhatadooroncewas.
Thepcturecalled"thevctory"(Fg.1)[3]confrontsuswthadoor.But,unusually,tsputupnearthe
beach,nthesand,closetothemovngborderlnebetweenlandandocean.Whysthsdoorhere,solated
undertheopenskes,atthelmtsofthedomansofhumanlfe?Evdentlythssnotaplaceforadoorof
thstype,defntelynotnthssolatedposton.Thedooropensorclosesnothng.Wecangoaroundt:does
tplaymonument?
Theanswerssmple."Inmymndthe'nvsble'dssolvestheusualmeanngofthngsvsblenapcture.
Throughthsoursecretstartstodomnateuscompletely.[4]Magrttetearsthedoorofffromtheusual
contextofthehouse,takestawayfromwallsandenclosures,todemonstratequalteswhcharenotevdent
ntheframeworkofnormaluse.Toomuchwehaveaccustomedourselvestotspresence,totsnatural
functon.Intheunfamlarcondtonatthebeach,Magrtte'sdoorstartstospeaknverynewways.
Thedoorsslghtlyopenwewouldsay.Ornearlyclosed?Itsstatussambvalent.Wecannotexpresst
clearly.Thedoorspartlyopened,partlyclosed.Inanothersensetootherearedffcultes.Theposton,
necessarlyfxednthepcture,mplesmovement.Thedoorsnthestateofclosngoropenng.The'wng'
"fles"open,"falls"toclosng."Wng"?Isthsnotatermoftheanmalworld?Why"wng"andwhatabout
ts"swngng"?Whatkndofsprtshddenntshngesthatlettmoveorflap?Thewordsndcatevery
ancentthngs.But,whohasformedthesedeas?Arewe,maybe,nthesamestuatonlkethewomenn
PatrcaHghsmth'snovel"Thehorrorofbasketweavng"?Dscoverngherowncapactytoreparabroken
basketallbyherselfdrovehernearlycrazy.Shehadneverlearnedt.Aretheremostancentconceptslvng
nourbrans?Capacteswhchweredevelopedthousandsofyearsago?"Thesearethequestonssherases
toherselfandgetsfercelypancked.Shefnallyburnsthebasketasftwereahorrblemonsterandthus
freesherselfoftheproblem.Itwasnotmadness,tWASmenacng.Shewasabouttoloseherdentty.
Wedonotwanttogosofar,butonlynotethattheword"wng"(German:"Flgel")makesusconscousof
somethng.Usuallytheframesfxedandstandsrremovablystable,tspartofabuldng.Incontrastto
ths,thedoorsmoble,lkethewngofabrd,whchsfxedtotsbodywthnaturalartculatons.The
ambvalentfunctonofopenngandclosngnthecaseofthedoorhastsrootsnthsmoblty.Incontrast,
theframeprovdesstablty,keepsthedoorntsprovdedspace.Thedoor(femalenGerman)andtheframe
(malenGerman),botharecomplementarylkeblackandwhte,lkefemaleandmale.
But,notonlythecomplementarycategoresof"rest"and"movement"charactersethedoorasuntandtwo
condtons.Thedoorsalsoartculatedntofllngsandframe.Isthsonlyforconstructvereasons?Very
lkelynot!Threefeldscanbedstngushed.Ahorzontalfllngseparatestwoothervertcalrectangles,one
ntheupper,theothernthelowerpartofthedoor.Thelowerpart,nearlyquadratc,ndcatesclosedform,
statccondtons.Theupperpart'sdrectonsupwards.Techncallyallfllngsaresmlar,theyareonly
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formallydefnedwthdfferentproportons.Averysmpleeverydaydoor?Whatsreallyshockngwthths
doorsthewayMagrttecolouredt.Blue,brght,lketheskes,ntheupperpart.Yellowshlkethesandof
thebeachnthelowerpart.Thus,Magrttesdefntelynotaneverydaypanter.Or,mghtthavebeenthe
nterestngdeaofgooddesgnermagnaton?EvdentlyMagrttedoesnotwantths.Theresthsmysterous
cloud,whchpushestselfntothespaceleftopenbythedoor.Thecloudspeaks.Bluesnotjustbluelkethe
skes.BlueIStheskes.Thentermnglngoffarandnearmplestheupperpartofthedoorspartofthe
skes,thelowerpartspartoftheearth.Thssnotmeantsmplynthecommonsymbolcsense,asa'make
looklke'mageofheavenandearth.Themagetellsusmuchmore.ThedoorISatthesametmeheaven
andearth.Itsnterpretedasadualorpolaruntcomposedoftwoantthetcdomans.[5]
Ifthsstuatonsasmentonedabovetakennthephlosophcalsenseasanexpressonofnonanalytcal
thoughtwhchorgansestheworldmetaphorcallyntocomplementaryanaloges,thenanewaccesspaths
formed.Bytsabsurdpostonatthebeach,standngnsand,thedoorsdecsvelydefunctonalsedandput
ntoaqutedfferentcontext.Thedoornowstandsntheframeworkofamoreancentsystemwhch
organsesphenomenagenetcally(onceandnow)asuntyofcontradctons(concdentaoppostorum)to
harmonsethem.Thedoorsdentcalwthheavenandearthnregardtotheharmonousrelatonofts
contrastngparts.
Thedscoveryofthsvertcallycomplementaryorgansatonofthedoorbecomesretroactveonthewhole
structuralframework.EvdentlyMagrttehasnotputhsdoorjustbychanceontheborderlnebetweenland
andocean.Frst,afurtherconceptsshown.Land,theearth,mantheuprghtwalker'smedumhastslmts.
Hslvngdomanendsnfrontofasurfaceonwhchtheresnowalkng.Thsmedumcannotsupporths
feet.Thewatersareadaptedtotforothertypesofexstences.ThusthedoornMagrtte'spantngdoesnot
separatetwodentcalspaces,asthssusuallythecasewthadoorseparatngfornstancetwooffcespaces.
Magrtte'sdoorstandsontheborderlnebetweentwoabsolutelydfferentdomans.
Letuscarrythedoorbackntoahouse,butusngthsmage.Anothermeanngcanbeseendfferently.The
doorofahousefacngthestreetfornstancesnotanambvalentholensomewall,trelatesandseparates
oceanandsand,heavenandearth.Earthnthesenseofbengrelable,bengaccessbletoman.Heavennthe
senseofcorrelatonofanunknownllmted.Isourapartmentnotnmostcasestheunqueplaceonearth,
whereweknoweventhesmallestthngnalldetal?Istnotregnedbyaprncpleoforgansatonwhchwe
controlatleastnthecaseoffurnturetotheabsoluteandsmallestdetal?Ontheotherhand,stherenot
somesortofsmlartybetweenthestreetandtheocean,eventheskes?

Fg.2:Theholefrghtensus.Volence.Nonculture.Thus,sthedoormorethanaholenthewall?
Inanotherpcturetoo,Magrttetellsusthatthedoorsmorethanaholenawall.Theformlessbreakthrough
whchopensntothedarkofthenextroomsfrghtenngus(Fg.2)[6].Theamorphousdarkholespeaksof
force,ofnonculture,ofantculture.Wefeelthesacrlege,thestolentreasure.Thedoorhaslosttsprotectve
capacty.Wththeholetalsolosestsambvalence.Thebrokendoorcannotjustbeclosedanymorebya
swngngmovementofthehand.
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Evdently,Magrttedoesnotsuperfcallyteachusdffuse'surreal'realtes.Hesnotjustacasualnnovator
ofdreamsorllusonaryalteratonsofrealty.Wthdeepreflectonsandntenstyhereconstructsvery
precselyloststructuresofthepast,condtonswhcharenomoreconscoustous.Magrttesnotreallya
'surrealst'.Dealngwthwhatsbelowthesurface,heratherwouldhavetobeconsdereda'sousrealst'.
Lkeanarchaeologsthedgsoutwhatsculturallysubmerged,thehstoryofthedoorfrombelow.He
searchesforcondtonswhcharesubconscouslyexperenced,maybe,butusuallyansweredmerelyby
surprse,fornstancenthecaseofthedoor:whysthatso?Buttheycannomorebeconscously
formulated.Inshort,heportraysasubstrateofspatalrealtycondtonedbythehstoryofculturewhchs
ntensvelyrelatedtotheconcretedspostonofbuldnganddwellng.
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