Folio

RESEARCH

1. In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki

Notes on further readings

INITIAL QUESTION + ABSTRACT

The beauty of Darkness is only truly appreciated when an element of light is present.

To understand the beauty of darkness there must be an element of light for without this light there will be no reference for what our eye can perceive. For in total darkness there can be no absolute beauty found as we perceive not the space we are in therefore there must be a shadow of light for us orient and appreciate the beauty that is held within the darkness that surrounds us. To begin to explore this idea we can firstly look towards Peter Zumthor and Junichiro Tanizaki and compare their understanding of darkness through the importance of shadows in the articulation of light as carving into the black void of darkness. Once our understanding of darkness is has been reached through the unpacking of Zumthor and Tanizaki it is then possible to develop our understanding of darkness in a corporeal sense through the works of Juhani Pallasmaa and the importance for there to be an element of light present for us to appreciate the beauty of darkness instead of the affect that total darkness brings. Furthering the idea that there needs to be an element of light to in turn appreciate darkness we can shift towards Louis Kahn and Tadao Ando’s use of light within buildings and similarly look back again towards Zumthor and the ways in which these three architects use traces of light to highlight the areas of darkness thus facilitating the idea that for us to acknowledge the beauty of darkness there needs to be an element of light.

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