REPORT OF THE ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP
On 25 and 26 November, as part of the programme of Artistic Workshops for the Educational Community presented by the Fundació Sa Llavor’s Escuela Cultura, we went on a journey with Rudolf Kaesbach where we experienced the art of architecture.
Architecture is part of the life of humanity. There is a direct relationship between architectural forces, spaces, landscape and the evolutionary path of human beings on Earth.
The art of architecture is a process of seeking harmony with the environment through the creation of spaces, which allows us to balance the polarity of the universe and nature with the inner experience of the human being.
Architecture is a physical reflection of the human soul experience related to the landscape and the immediate environment.
The mysterious megalithic constructions serve as a starting point for us to learn to grasp the sensitive relationship that human beings have with the landscape, an environment that was once perceived so intensely that we needed to build in order to balance and counterbalance the experience that emerges from the perception of the mountains, the immense valleys, the infinite horizons, where our spirit can get lost and not find its centre, its own temple.
In the Gothic cathedral, art and spirit are expressed in perfection. In addition to unifying the seven arts in itself, giving them meaning and unity, the cathedral is an image of the ideal spirit of the period: strong and imposing on the outside, like a knight in armour; luminous, spacious and humble on the inside, like a saint.
The cathedral offers those who walk through it the experience of the spiritual path through the different levels or spaces that are traversed along the way, from the entrance door to the altar, a concentrated place full of light that symbolises communion, the final illumination of the gods.
Within contemporary architecture we find examples of Japanese architect Tadao Ando, where reverence for nature and dialogue with the environment remain alive.
His architecture works with light, geometric shapes and elements, creating closed spaces that invite serenity and introspection, and open spaces in harmony with nature.
Tadao seeks to express the spiritual unity of the human being through the architectural experience.
The architectural ensemble of the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, an architecture designed by Rudolf Steiner, brings together the wisdom of the human being through the seven arts in a sensitive dialogue with the environment, constituting a space in which the arts are alive and show spiritual processes.
What is our current experience with the forces of architecture? In this age, the need arises to build a sacred temple in our hearts on the pillars of goodness, beauty and truth.
IMPRESSIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS
“To look at
breathe the architecture
to let space slip between the seams of being
to let a corner fill everything
let emptiness occupy the soul
Dialogue between landscape and roof
between cloud and human
The stairs are passages to the other side
and you look again
and again
and again
and what was there is different
the wall
the window
life.
Enabling a path through experience allows the soul to be inhabited from a new perspective. The proposal of the Escuela Cultura workshops follows the path of the arts as an open process for the expression of the profound being.
Architecture has been the first step in this journey, accompanied by Rudolf Kaesbach, we have walked the path towards what is outside, establishing a bridge through looking and feeling towards what is inside.
Can a roof dialogue with the landscape? Yes, just as our soul dialogues with everything that surrounds it.
Perhaps we have numbed that pristine sensitivity, but we can awaken it from its centuries-old lethargy by allowing it to listen through what surrounds us, and why not through walls, corners, windows and doors? Spaces can move us and tell us who we are in a subtle way.
In this encounter we are once again allowed to return to the postponed conversation between the external and the internal, architecture is presented as a path, infinite ways of moving inwards and from there towards the world.
This proposal is an experience that invites us to enlarge our gaze and to let our soul expand”.
Gloria Pérez
“A journey creates such an intense experience that a book could be written to tell the story.
This artistic workshop has transformed my perception. We are usually used to create our daily life with what we already know and we find it difficult to open ourselves to the unknown, without taking a moment to recognise ourselves. This experience is an opportunity to discover your space of peace.
This was for me the opportunity to perceive what surrounds me in a more conscious way, with tools to interact and transform that space that surrounds me in balance.
Thank you for two days that will always resonate within me”.
Paco Bertos
“The Art Workshop was for me a precious lesson in rhythm, observation and sensitivity. To see the movement and rhythm of the spaces and our own in them. Allowing us to slow down, pause, observe and feel our environment and the emotions it generates in us. There is a rhythm in everything we do, how we move and relate… if we quieten it, calm it down, we perceive more.”
Lorena del Moral
“Architecture has the quality of converting weight into lightness and the unmanageability of a landscape into a refuge for the soul.”
Joana Castell
“We began this workshop with the study of megalithic architecture, we saw a dialogue of forms between rocks and landscape that in turn formed an interior space where human beings can observe their intimacy and feel sheltered, even if only for a few moments, from the immensity that surrounds them. In my opinion, before designing any building, interior, or even any piece of furniture or object, one should observe what sensations are obtained from each design proposal. This is something more essential, more basic, a step prior to the design of technical solutions. To listen to ourselves, to design from a calm soul, so that once the building is finished, it gives us back this calm and inner look, to go and come back”.
Antoni Gelabert
“I was amazed to discover that there is a communication and breathing creating sensations. I was delighted to be able to observe it with the megaliths and to have the experience of working it with clay.”
Yolanda Zarza
“Thanks to the meeting I was able to experience healing sensations that transform into an incredible desire to live, experiment and play. The connection with the essence, present in a subtle and at the same time intense way, which awakens the inner joy of being.”
Patricia Ramis
“Surprising workshop, impressed by the historical journey of the spaces and their – why? with their effect on the environment and on the spectator himself. I keep inside me as valuable to perceive from the subtle as I am and I am in a space and how it changes by changing the perspective … and from the experience to make sprout through my body, form, structure and sensations … infinite gratitude for the delivery …”.
Cristian Escolar
“I went to the Artistic Architecture Workshop with great enthusiasm and I left full of positive energy, with a very special vision of the value of Architecture in the evolution of the human being. Through the tremendously sensitive hand of Rudold Kaesbach, we were guided and invited to explore the meaning of human construction through images and personal work with clay, a fascinating material. I was surprised to find that human needs have changed over the centuries, but the basic, archaic need for protection and identification with place remain intact. I am tremendously grateful to the Team for giving us the opportunity to participate in courses of this quality, I highly recommend participation”.
Leire Pagalday
