kh

the sanctuary
autumn term 2007 - professor m. angélil, assistant j. larsen

with eugene arvinte

the conceptual idea behind this building is filtration. a filtration process reduces pollution step by step until the desired grade of purity is reached.

how is this represented in a building?

someone comes home, polluted and dirty from the outside world. on the way through the building, he or she sheds all this physical and emotional baggage, finally reaching the most private rooms clean and in a pure frame of mind.

in the building the walls act as a system of filters by folding into the inside space as obstacles. thereby circulation is directed and rooms are created. in addition the thickness of the walls increases. so the purest and most private rooms are protected by the thickest walls, just like the purest substrate is won through the thickest filter. the same principle applies to the roof; it is the thickest where the room is the most private. thanks to slight slopes of the terrain the most private parts are not only protected by the thickest walls but also by the ground itself.

thus a visitor, and the resident even more so, feels safe, relaxed, and purified.