The Museum of Emotions competition challenged us to evoke primal emotional responses using architecture alone. Our design, sited by the Giardini della Biennale in Venice, created a secular heaven and hell.
Heaven is a hilly raised plaza shaded by a fabric sails forming an infinite curve. From this breezy perch, you take in the long vista starting with the Church of San Giuseppe di Castello and expanding to the harbor beyond. You feel as if you’re flying over this beautiful city.
Our hell, by contrast, is a dark, low hall that steps below ground and slides towards the murky canal. Wide but claustrophobic, the low curved ceiling presses down on visitors, nudging them towards the rising water. The space evokes anxiety, fear, and dread.
We like that the same undulating surface drives the contrasting emotions of each zone: joy on the roof and anxiety in the basement. This suggests that heaven and hell are two sides of the same coin or, perhaps, that each zone actually creates the other. It could also imply that the difference between them comes from one’s relationship to each.
