The Center of Silence

Abstract

There are a number of signs apparent today that shows society cares more about exterior appearance and less on the inner beauty, similarly contemporary architecture is all about the exterior appearance and the form. The world appears to have become emotionless and unfamiliar. In Karen A. Franckls words, “The outside has become the public facade, what we show or what we can show, the impersonal.” 1 It is like seeing a stranger wandering along the street with their emotions hidden behind. People have gradually forgotten what it is like to be connected to the world, to other people and even to oneself. 2 As modernist architecture have rejected sensory stimulus which provokes reactions among people. This thesis documents a project that is an attempt to open up some possibilities for mending the connection between the physical world and people. Like many arts, architecture expresses ideas, emotions and memories of human beings through physical medium.3 Just as language uses words and characters as a medium to convey meaning around people, music uses sound as a medium. One aspect of architecture’s medium is its “atmosphere” of the space.4 To understand this, one must experience in person. Once you have accepted this, I believe you would realize that the primary role of an architect is to create a language in architecture that evokes human sensory awareness and reminds us of our independent condition as a human being on earth. One particular language in architecture that draws me is the language of silence.