ARCHITECTURE OF THE HEAVENS

Earth is crammed with heaven.
Emily Dickinson

Only by being suspended aloft, by dangling my mind in the heavens and mingling my rare thought with the ethereal air, could I ever achieve strict scientific accuracy in my survey of the vast empyrean.
Aristophanes

The first and most obvious meaning of the word heavens is sky, or the lower part of the Earth’s atmosphere as observed from the ground upwards. Imagined for thousands of years as a vast, pristine dome, today the sky is understood quite differently: it is multilayered, intricately curvilinear, heavily polluted, and surprisingly crowded. Even if we do not know all the scientific details of atmospheric chemistry and physics, we have learned that our eyes deceive us. What we see, or rather do not see above and around us in between solid objects, is not a void. An intersection of many (in)visible grids, the contemporary heavens host an increasingly complex choreography of biotic and abiotic factors, made even more uncanny by an array of flying machines – from drones to cargo jets.

Another meaning of the word heavens is undoubtedly no less important, but refers to the realm of culture rather than that of nature. Heavens also means a place where pantheons of deities reside in symbolic structures described differently by different religions: from the tripartite Earth-bound firmament of early Christianity to the multilayered gardens of Islamic cosmology.

For many cultures, narratives about the ways and means of getting from the sinful Earth to the final celestial abode are of central importance. It is no surprise that the word heaven is also used to describe an ideal, harmonious setting where humans can achieve happiness and peace.

The studio Architecture of the Heavens started with concise research on how our understanding of the structure of the heavens had changed throughout history. The students looked at architectural and artistic projects of the past that actively dealt with the element of air and the sky as a space for experimentation.

Buckminster Fuller, Georgy Krutikov, Yves Klein, Otto Piene, Rachel Whiteread, and Tomas Saraceno are just some of the names revisited during this phase. Seminal texts by Gaston Bachelard and Peter Sloterdijk opened the discussion on how to design the environment according to atmospheric ethics, while also promoting the next actual aesthetics.

The studio Architecture of the Heavens consciously followed up the IKA’s educational and investigative project Wiener Hitze. Architecture and Storytelling in Times of Heat (2021) and focused on the city of Vienna. However, it extended beyond climatic considerations, prompting manifold narratives that explore perhaps rather ephemeral, yet sound design alternatives to traditionally built habitats. Special attention was paid to the space in between and above existing buildings – the “negative” of the city’s fabric. A large-scale three-dimensional model of Vienna’s air became the point of departure for collective exploration of the “void” as well as for individual design projects.

The studio applied architectural thinking to both physical and metaphysical aspects of celestial space. It encouraged concepts that improved air quality, created desirable microclimates, promoted wind and solar energy, diversified air transportation, and made life better for flying urban fauna. 

At the same time,inspired by Sloterdijk’s conviction that we should all be the students of air, our team also studied the politics, culture, and economics of the city’s sky.
Who owns and governs urban air?
How can thecitizens benefit from a well-planned troposphere?
Should we protect air the way we protect cultural heritage?
Who is in charge of air security?
What kind of productive sky-bound designs could artists and architects offer, beyond the habitual upward construction of multi-storey towers?

It is important to mention that this investigation was initiated in times of active warfare, when civilians in major cities were being bombed in massive air raids. This current moment made the design of safe h(e)avens not only an interesting academic topic, but a true actuality for many around the world.

Partners:
Municipality of Vienna
Cloud Appreciation Society
Vienna International Airport

Textual references:
Air and Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Movement by Gaston Bachelard
Terror from the Air by Peter Sloterdijk

Guest appearances:
Berndnaut Smilde, artist (NL), https://www.berndnaut.nl
Peter Mensinga, climate designer (NL)