KOOZ What prompted the project?

NF "Qualities of Space" emerged on the one hand from my preoccupation with painting, on the other hand from ongoing research on an approach to architecture as a sequence of successive stimuli and impressions. The latter examines how the character of a building emerges from different combinations of spaces, the connections between them and the nature of their boundaries. It takes up the understanding of architecture embedded in the storyboard-like depictions of the Acropolis by Auguste Choisy, which address specifically the human perception of architecture. It has a conceptual similarity to the idea of the cinematic sequence and the theory of montage. Consequently, the core of this study is an examination of contrasts, affinities and analogies between spaces. This direct preoccupation with one of the essential aspects of architecture, let to the question of the nature and extent of the term “architectural space” itself.

The dilemma of this fundamental term is that, although it is extremely present in architectural terminology, it is simultaneously used in a multi-layered and vaguely defined form. This results, among other things, from the fact that the prevailing understanding of space has been strongly questioned at the latest by the spatial turn. The facets of the concept of space created by our increasingly complex environment and the interconnections between architecture, infrastructure and virtual spaces cause this apparently familiar concept to become increasingly blurred. Which factors are significant for the constitution of space and to what extent are spatial categories such as privacy and the public sphere subject to a set of permanent architectural rules, or are influenced by an individual and ever-changing cultural imprint?

The project addresses these questions and deals with the different types of spatial categories, transitions between spaces and highlights the hybrid and complex nature of our built environment.

KOOZ What questions does the project raise and which does it address?

NF During the work, I translated the aforementioned examination of the term “architectural space” into paintings. They serve as a medium to develop an own perspective on this topic and take up individual aspects from it. In particular, they question common architectural dogmas and ideas: What is the boundary between the private and the public sphere? How is the transition between urban space and the interior of a building defined? How do these two opposing conditions interact? In a time that is increasingly charged with spatially detached representations, is it still reasonable to hold on to a classical conception of space and to assign to the demarcation of boundaries through architecture the role it has long had?

These questions lead to the debate about a culturally shaped understanding of space. In this regard, I consider it crucial to highlight that changing cultural circumstances and technical achievements leave a not to be underestimated imprint on our perception of space. Especially since the rapid growth of technology and the thereby caused reduced importance of physical distance is more than enough reason to question how this phenomenon affects our behaviour regarding architecture.

While some paintings focus on the connections between architecture & infrastructure, exterior & interior spaces, especially the last piece in this series refers directly to the beforementioned aspect. The painting consists of an accumulation of spatial fragments and reflections. However, the outlines of the physical boundaries of the depicted space are not readable anymore. When painting this picture, I suppressed my spatial thinking and engaged with the forms in their two-dimensionality. What emerged from it is an image in which it is impossible to understand the physical dimensions of the space and the viewer’s standpoint within this conglomerate of spatial allusions. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the reflection of the human silhouette in the right half of the picture is the viewer’s reflection, where it comes from and by which elements it is caused.

The painting offers an analogy to our behaviour in the digital realm, which is characterized by the trust in anonymity through the chaotic, abstract condition of its environment. Here, privacy is no longer defined by a solid boundary but established by a blurring within the most public space. The image poses the question of the extent to which this form of privacy has an impact on the perception of an architectural environment that is fundamentally open and permeable, but whose complexity leads simultaneously to the possibility to accept the anonymization of one’s own identity within this space.

KOOZ What drew you to explore the medium of paint?

NF Fundamentally, I have a strong preference for using drawings and paintings as a working method during any design process. I value the spontaneity of this technique, but also how this form of working allows one to immerse oneself in design questions and develop a sensitivity for a subject.
My relation to digital painting itself is on the one hand strongly influenced by the usage of this medium in film. The way I approached this project was similar to the work of a concept artist, condensing a cinematic environment into singular pieces, working with colour gradients from one scene to the following and developing a sequence, respectively, a kind of storyline. Besides that, the paintings created for "Qualities of Space" are also strongly influenced by photography and the technical possibilities of the camera. I like to play with vaguely indicated foregrounds that extend the scene beyond its frame, as well as with elements like focus and blur, movement, coinciding lines and the manipulation of perspective distortion to relate a scene to the view of a person walking through it.

By using paintings as a medium, I was able to apply compositional techniques and thus to translate my theoretical examinations visually. Compared to the production of images through photography or 3D models, however, paintings offer a greater freedom, because you aren’t bound to an existing architecture or the need to design the entire geometry of a space. The depicted spaces were mostly developed through sketches, without a complete plan or the concept of an actual building. This working method automatically created a focus on certain aspects and I could concentrate more specifically on individual situations without having to do justice to a conventional plan. Similar to the design of a stage set in a theatre, it was possible to highlight ambiguities and to exaggerate specific characteristics of each space.

Furthermore, painting leads to a reduction and a certain simplification of the shown environment because you automatically concentrate on what is necessary for your imagination to describe the individual scene. The incidence of light, the play of shadows, reflections on surfaces, gaps, joints and edges are especially elaborated in the area that initiated the development of a painting. Thus the works of are characterized simultaneously by carefully rendered elements, getting sometimes close to photorealism, as well as by the lack of traces of life, furniture and details. For me, these aspects create an interesting contrast between the acceptance, but also the questioning of the depicted scenes.

KOOZ How does the project approach and explore the relationship between architecture and image?

NF The images deviate from the usual stylistic approach of architectural images, as they do not aim to display an architectural proposal as precisely and comprehensively as possible. In fact, the depicted architectural elements were designed to address individual questions within the painting as clearly as possible. This design approach is similar to that of a stage set, where it is also possible to go beyond the usual constraints and accentuate certain features to underline the plot of the play. However, this is a reciprocal relationship: just as it was possible to manipulate the depicted architecture, the images also adapt to the spatial situations. In the middle part of the series, for example, there is a transition from a railway station into the interior of a building. The related paintings have the form of a triptych. While the two wings represent the contrasting conditions of inside & outside, respectively, below & above, the negotiation between these two opposites occurs in the central panel, where the diagonal edges of the stations’ dark ceiling and the bright ceiling of the interior intersect. The choice of format alone is thus already related to the depicted architectural motif, as well as the composition of the perspective is chosen to display the transition from the exterior to the interior.

KOOZ To what extent have new digital tools informed and altered this relationship?

NF Even though the accessibility to a sheer unlimited amount of images has never been so unrestricted as in our present time, I think the role of images for the architectural design process has been strengthened, but not fundamentally changed through the development of the digital realm. But digital tools and the possibilities to bridge spatial distances have not only accelerated the spread of visual data from every part of the world but also led to a deeper integration of images in our surroundings and especially into architecture. Projects by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, like the Brasserie in New York City or the Slow House address exactly this aspect. Those projects extend the physical environment through images. Thereby, they show some of the possibilities architects can draw from this highly interesting proximity between the real world and its representation. In fact, I think we are about to step into a world, which is even more characterized by this merging of our physical surroundings with images and representations of virtual or spatially distant objects.

KOOZ What is for you the power of the architectural imaginary?

NF I think it is telling that many imaginary projects keep their relevance for the architectural discourse, sometimes even after centuries. That is certainly due to their inherent power to address specific topics and tendencies of their time in a clear, and sometimes exaggerated way. Besides that, it is exactly their fragmented and abstract nature, which let them bridge the gap between the specific constraints an architect is facing while working on a project and some of the discipline’s general questions and tendencies.

Bio

Nils Fröhling is an architectural graduate from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. He co-founded the In Cooperation With GbR and worked for the architecture magazine ARCH+, the Paris-based office Bruther and for Muck Petzet Architekten in Munich. His preoccupation with the connections between film and architecture led to a series of written projects and architectural paintings, such as the Master Thesis Qualities of Space. He is working as an architect and concept artist in Munich.