Beckett in Space

Based on the tragicomedy, ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Samuel Beckett.

The story is a kind of a metaphor for the lack of meaning of human existence when salvation is expected from an external entity, and the self is denied introspection.

Does Architecture need to WAIT in dialogue?
Architecture I believe is primarily for the people and revolves around every aspect of human existence whether it be to eat, sleep, dwell, work, entertain, play, interact with other humans and nature. It deals with the physical and metaphysical phenomenon associated with humans and human existence.

Waiting has become an in-separable part of our daily lives. We are always waiting for something whether it be waiting to cross the road, waiting for the bus, waiting in a queue, waiting for the train to come, waiting for the train to go, waiting for the plane to fly, waiting for the luggage to arrive, waiting for an email to come, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for Friday night, waiting for the hair to grow, waiting for the sun to show, waiting for the rain to go, waiting for nothing, waiting for another chance, waiting for the big break, waiting for the right companion, waiting for success, waiting for prosperity, waiting for fame…...…………….and the wait goes on.

Do I think about this wait at all? Do I think of it as a hindrance in the daily flow of life? Do I enjoy the wait, endure it as if I can’t help but wait or hate it as it seems to slow me down?

‘Wait’ is a state of pause, a state of slowing down when moving or travelling between two points/places/ situations/ happenings. It is the transition between two points where the two points are generally given more importance than the journey between these points.

If I think of the two points as ‘Past’ and ‘Future’ then the interpretation of ‘Wait’from the time perspective could be:

The past doesn't exist anymore and the future is a concept. The present is all that exists between the past and future and this place of our existence can be called the WAIT. From the present we can look back into the past and can imagine the future. With time, the memories of the past keep accumulating and we are often anxious and worried about the future. Hence the past and the future are ever expanding and as a result I feel our present is shrinking. We often don’t live our present life to the fullest and keep worrying either of the past or the future.
Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time and uncertain ‘Waits’ seem longer than the known finite ‘Waits’. Anxiety seems to makes the period of waiting longer than it actually is.

While waiting there are certain things that people do to divert ones attention from the seeming slowness of the clock like wait expectantly, contemplate, stare at the watch repeatedly, read, listen, eat, plan, walk, check personal belongings and physical appearance, ignore, observe, socialize, stare, visualize, talk, linger, share and laugh. The feelings that one might encounter are nothingness, boredom, worry, remember, muse over things, wish, dream, ponder and wonder.

ABSTRACT

I have been running an architectural practice for the past 11 years in India where designing for clients with a clear cut program and clear cut financial value have been key issues along with an understanding of the site and materiality.

After having this experience I now wish to be more abstract,playful and analytical.
My project begins with observing people in social waiting spaces like the airport lounges, bus stops, tube stations, hospital waiting rooms, plazas and street side spaces within parts of London and making time based recordings of people in such environments. These people are doing the normal and routine activities which might seem quite common and ordinary but my observation is with a different interest and point of view. It is interesting to observe and analyze how people occupy space in a particular environment and how the environment affects their actions, thus emphasizing the interdependence of the two.

How do the participants matter in space? How does the built and un-built space affect the waiting behavior of the participants?

Through my project I wish to understand and investigate:

1 Existence of bodies in transition and in space.
2 Re-articulating the understanding of the complexities of waiting in space.
3 How do the participants matter in space and the relation of their bodies with the spatial properties of the surrounding space? How does the built and un-built space affect the waiting behavior of the participants?
4 What are the differences in ‘Waiting’ and how is waiting an understanding of the complexities of the way in which we can design spaces differently?
5 What is the spatial and/or architectural implication of ‘Waiting’? I wish to explore the possibilities of designing spaces for waiting and evaluating the different possibilities of the experience of waiting.
6 Seeing the whole investigation as a delicate, time based ecology of bodies in space which composes a scene, binding the memories of the past and the necessity to progress.


Methodology and techniques for investigation

1 Photograph people waiting in different locations,environments and at different times.
2 Observe their posture, things they are doing, objects they are resting on/against.
Study the outer profile of their body, shadows and nearby objects and generate an abstracted profile from the actual profile.
3 Developing 3 dimensional forms based on the 2 dimensional abstracted profiles.
4 Study the effect of juxtapositioning the original profiles on the projected image.
5 Examine these abstracted profiles, the lines of rest, the lines of force and their composition to evaluate a strategy for the design.
6 Explore the use of projection as a technique for study.
7 Psychoanalysis of the act of waiting.
8 Role of media, mass communication and advertising to tap into the potential of the the act of waiting for commercial value