fixed and free

According to Nietzsche, art is the interaction of two forces, the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Apollonian condition is one in which a creative vision of form is fully realized; it is an impulse toward order, form, rationality, and control. The Dionysian condition is one of dissolution and release; it is an impulse toward irrationality and spontaneity. In true art (and architecture), the two conditions transform each other, so that a delicate mastery of irrationality is obtained. The encapsulated irrationality can emerge through tectonic variation or submerge in the building’s operational logic, surfacing only when the mundane gives way to the celebratory. Part of my methodological aim will be to chart these rhythms of movement and stasis and to register the interplay of ephemerality and permanence.