The uneven floor
Monday, May 26th, 2008Today I went to Kunsthaus-Wien, which is designed by Hundertwassert, this incredible painter and architect whose name means “hundred waters.”
There’s an uneven floor in the lobby — it rises and falls like walking over hills and valleys – and a sign:
“About the Uneven Floor
The flat floor is an invention of the architects. It fits engines — not human beings.
We do not only have eyes to see and ears to hear and noses to smell. We also have a sense for the touch of our hands and our feet.
If man is forced to walk on flat floors as they were planned thoughtlessly in designers’ offices, estranged from man’s age old relationship and contact to earth — a decisive part of man withers and dies. This has catastrophic consequences for the soul, the equilibrium, the well being and the health of man. Man’s ability to experience ceases and he becomes disabled, mentally and organically.
An uneven and animated floor means to recover dignity of man which has been violated in our unnatural and hostile urban grid system.
The uneven floor becomes a symphony, a melody for the feet and brings back natural vibrations to man.
Architecture should elevate and not subdue man. It is good to walk on uneven floors and regain our human balance.”
- Hunderwassert, April 1991
Then I was watching the floor, thinking about “uneven floor” as a street plan, instead of a grid, and a woman tripped on the floor. Then she looked around, surprised, saw the sign, read a bit of it, and laughed. I asked her whether she thought the uneven floor was good or bad. She said it was good, which suprised me, since she had just tripped on it. Then I asked her what she thought about if cities had “uneven floors” instead of grid street plans, whether she thought it was good or bad. She said it would be good.
Then she said, “I think it would slow down everyone. You would take more time passing through to think about your surroundings.”
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