Shreya Pate

In the contemporary world, learning how to live is a notion in the midst of being lost. The simplicity and richness of life lies in the mundane domestic rituals that form a part of daily routine. Though disregarded sometimes, they are rituals that mediate between body, space and movement. And these quotidian rituals give meaning to life and existence. An existence that contemplates between man and space. It is the in-between space, the tolerance. A tolerance that creates a pause. The way we live defines the space around us. Each person lives differently yet we perform the same mandatory rituals each day. If the way we live is an expression of the society we live in, then how much space do we need to live in and perform these brief rituals? How much is just enough? 

This project takes the form of a house to be inhabited by me. It is informed by a harmonic relationship with dimensions and proportions that are the protagonist of the project. The dimensions deriving from my body form a modular system which is a device used for the development of the spaces. These dimensions and proportions not only create spaces but also act as a measure for silence. This house is a juxtaposition of objects on a large empty platform forming a landscape within itself. Each object is defined by a ritual like washing clothes, brushing teeth, sleeping, cooking, etc. The spaces are scattered throughout the platform, forming fragments that are part of the whole.

Although seeming like one space, the platform creates a dynamic between two spaces: one above and one under. It is friction between my ego and alter ego that regulates these two spaces. A duality within a singular space and a singularity within two spaces. It is not a reflection of me but it is me and my reflection. I am the winter and I am the summer. The space is as barren as the landscape, yet fertile with a hope. Hope for me to grow in. There are alternate full and empty spaces formed of domestic rituals and their movements. Movements mapped within a grid. It is an idea for finding myself, an endless search. It is a self-sufficient island which may or may not answer the questions of existence. It is a space which is just enough, a space to grow and a space to count silence.