2810466455 Concept and Experience: Tate Modern* (AN ESSAY ON THE INTERSECTION OF ORDERS IN ARCHITECTURE, University College London, Bartlett School of Architecture, MA Architectural History SANDRA KREIDEL 2008UMI Number: U593808 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UM U593808 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. Allrights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346* Tate Modern, London, UK. The museum opened on May 12, 2000. It is located on the south bank of the Thames, across from St, Paul’s Cathedral. Originally designed as a power station by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott between 1947 and 1963, closed in 1981. The Tate bought the building in 1994 to enlarge its exhibition space following a decision to separate its, collection into British and modem art, Bankside Power Station was thereafter transformed into a museum by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. With 84,250 square feet of permanent gallery space and in addition 35,520 square feet temporary exhibition space at the Turbine Hall it is currently the world’s largest museum of modem art. According to the institution, the total costs were £134 million, of which more than fifty percent were contributed to the project by the government. In the first five years of its operation Tate Modern received more than twenty million visitors.CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 ARCHIVAL RESEARCH 8 Tate's policy Competition statement and operational strategy’ Herzog & de Meuron's scheme and the reality of built form The production of ‘Sensational events’ Tate Modern’s reinterpretation of a museum for modern art PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE ARCHITECTURE 7 The outward appearance of Tate Modern Close-up of the exterior The west entrance to the Turbine Hall Descending into the building The constituting elements of the Turbine Hall and their atmospheres The experience of Boiler House Alternative experience of the Turbine Hall and Boiler House PHENOMENOLOGICAL READINGS OF TATE MODERN 26 Introduction The launch of phenomenology Preliminary summary of Heidegger's notion of architecture Being and situatedness: A Heideggerian reading of the perception of Turbine Hall Dwelling Location and timely situatedness: Turbine Hall The presence of absence: Boiler HouseThe relation benween dwelling and observation Meaning The urban context Preliminary summary of Merleau-Pont s phenomenological project Preliminary summary of Sartre's notion of freedom The corporeality of space: an analysis of Tate Modern in relation to Merleau-Ponty and Sartre Spatial relations Bodily perception, vision and movement Perception of time A closed system The challenge of autonomy CONCLUSION a2 BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 IMAGE CREDITS slINTRODUCTION This essay consists of encounters with the architecture of Tate Modern. It moves from the physical to the philosophical, through architecture, archives and texts, The objective herein is to explore the ambiguities between concepts and experience to sustain a reading of the architecture that exists at the int scetion Previous attempts to understand Tate Modern are predominantly concerned with symptomatic analyses of the architecture. It has repeatedly been discussed in the realm of art in relation to the reinvention of art galleries as for profit spaces whose galleries resemble showrooms for “high art lite’ (Julian Stallabrass). Furthermore the separation of Tate’s collection and the move to Bankside was compared to the expansion of the Guggenheim Muscum and the Muscum of Modern Art in New York City in terms of the influence real estate value and revenue from visitors have on a director’s ‘sense of mission” regarding the exhibition of “serious art’.' A similar direction was followed in a discussion that attempted to expose Tate Modem as simulacrum of a muscum, again based on its public success and diverse audiences that were seen as corrupting the program.’ In a collection of essays on Tate Modern that was published by the institution in 2005, each of the contributors commented on the building but again a discussion of the relation between architecture and use was neglected. Martin Gayford noted, “In Tate Modern, the most startling and novel feature was the huge cavern of the Turbine Hall. As a place for the display of art it was almost unprecedented,"* And Jon Snow assumed ‘My feeling is that everyone who ever steps inside the building fecls something of that stimulus. It’s a feeling both of belonging ' John Loughery, “The Future of Museums: The Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Tate Modern’, Hudson Review, Vol.53, No.4 (Winter 2001), pp. 631-638 (p.632) Esther Leslie, ‘Tate Modern: A year of sweet success’ in Radical Philosophy, Issue 109, September / October 2001 “Martin Gayford, “A New Space for New Ant’, p.7and of connection, of extension and of reaching out into new experience.’ Bodily experience was also described by Chris Smith. “Tate Modern is one of the few to the Turbine Hall for buildings...that take your breath away ~ especially when you walk i the first time. (...) The vastness of the space means that even with huge numbers coming, the building happily absorbs them.* Thereof a gap in the discourse of the ‘Tate Modern In terms, phenomenon’ was identified in form of the relation between architecture and us of the dominant discussions in art history this meant fo explore how the architecture facilitates Tate’s reinvention as a for profit institution ideologically through the choice of Scott's Bankside Power Station and physically through the transformation by Herzog & de Meuron. On the other hand the essays on Tate Modem’s first five years identify the Turbine Hall as the unique selling point of the muscum but lack a thorough analysis of the space. Since the public success was in unison attributed to its existence a study that explores the order of the place became necessary. This allowed for the use of phenomenology as methodology because it sanctions discourses that take subjective experience seriously, Considering the common confinement of phenomenology to a discourse of architecture that consistently emphasises authenticity in various aspects, from sensorial experience (Pallasmaa) to a meaningful narrative whose “final objective is our realization as embodied, imagining selves" (Pérez-Gémez) to “a response to the particularities of site and circumstance”* (Holl) to the visualisation of the “genius loci’, the “spirit of place’ (Norberg- Schulz) to questioning “What does this house want to become?"’ (Zumthor), it seemed worthwhile to argue for an understanding of phenomenology as a set of methods that may be deployed in analysing architectures that do not succumb to this ideology. * Jon Snow, ‘Reaching Out’, p.16 * Chris Smith, “The Political Impact’, p.19 * John Holden, “The Cultural Value of Tate Modern’, p.35 ? Alberto Pérez-Gémez, “The Space of Architecture: Meaning as presence and representation’, p. 23 * Steven Holl, ‘Questions of Perception ~ Phenomenology of Architecture’, p.42 * Peter Zumthor, “Thinking Architecture’, p.78‘Consequentially the essay attempts to provide an understanding of Tate Modern that focuses on these as yet neglected areas. Scetion one describes the findings of my archival research, its focus is on the history of the tecture, the ideas and strategies that were devised before the transformation of the Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern took place. To understand how the architecture was conceived, this passage gives an overview of the considerations that led to the transformation of a derelict industrial building into a museum for modern art. The description takes into account the institutional aspects as well as the architects ideas. It becomes clear that although Tate Modem appears to lack an overtly institutional character, which has contributed considerately to its public success, this is in fact due to extensive research and tactical brand positioning. The argument is supported by a discussion of the Turbine Hall’s function as a temporary exhibition space and the relations between architecture, spectator and artworks that arise thereof. The second section is a transcript of notes taken on site at various occasions, in physical contact with the architecture. It discloses two possible experiences of the architecture and argues for the importance of the relation between subject and object. Following an introductory discussion of phenomenology that explains my understanding of its philosophical projects as methods, the next section proceeds with outlines of the central notions in phenomenology developed by Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, set into relation to Sartre’s notion of freedom. Each of the methods is then applied to an analysis of the architecture of Tate Modern, as it was perceived through physical experience and described in section two. ‘The conclusion resumes the important aspects of each section, exposes the orders that were therein explored and attempts an intersection, In addition to the evaluation of the discussion it assesses the prospects of an advanced understanding of phenomenology in architectural discourse.(01 Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (02 Bankside Power Station prior to conversion ARCHIVAL RESEARCH. Tate's polic Art galleries have evolved into prime settings to showcase architectures that are as collectible and recognisable as the collections for which they are built. When the idea to separate the Tate gallery’s collection was announced in late 1992 and the search for a suitable site began, the transformation of an existing building into a mayor league gallery ‘was indeed unlikely. As the options became clearer the Tate started a twofold research into the needs of art galleries in the twenty-first century. Detailed analyses of the global players’ strengths and weaknesses were complemented with the outcomes of conferences that were held with artists and curators to establish the design parameters for an architectural commission. Both came to conclusions that matched surprisingly well. Artists and curators felt that industrial spaces were more inspiring and suitable for exhibitions than many of the purpose-built architectures, On the other hand the researchers concluded that the conversion of an existing building was best suited to avoid ‘the architectural excess of almost every modern muscum in Europe and America’ They also noted that ‘The constraints and tensions given by an existing shell seem to restrain architects and yield more satisfactory exhibition spaces than a new building, even when a demanding client has exercised control.”'" "Tate Records TG 12/4/2/1, Presentation to the Board of Trustees Notes, January *94 "Tate Records TG 12/4/2/1, Presentation to the Board of Trustees Notes, January *94ly legitimised by this double assertion the Tate settled for Giles Gilbert Scott's Bankside Power Station'? opposite of St Paul's Cathedral. This choice had other advantages to it. It bypassed a fair amount of the building regulations that affect large projects in London and came with an unparalleled single space that would set the gallery apart from its competitors in the international art scene, the Turbine Hall The brief and the corresponding internal notes for the international competition are explicit in terms of what the Tate expected the architecture to provide. Competition statement and operational strategy Considered an overall aim was the promotion of fine arts in 20" century visual culture." This was envisaged at different levels. Locally in terms of regeneration, partnerships and educational links, London wide as a new cultural centre that should provide ‘entertainment for a broad cross section of people”, nationally as a hub for modem art that could be translated into smaller regional facilities and internationally in competition with the established global players that were to be challenged through a new approach to the operation and function of a museum. Finding a new interpretation of an international museum for modem art was the crucial point to this endeavour. The strategy for this was rather simple, in that it reversed the common conception of an institutional exhibition space. ‘The distinetion between permanent and temporary exhibitions, galleries and circulation spaces, ofien sharp in conventional museums, was to be avoided, the distinct nature of the spaces for particular media had to be broken down to make way for a conception that allows for similar conditions throughout the building, Ideally this was thought of as a motor for attracting a broader audience, particularly people under thirty-five, mature students, " The station was commissioned in 1947; it generated power from 1952 until its closure in 1981, when it became uneconomic due to rising oil prices. It was at risk of being demolished and an application for listing was refused by English Heritage. "Tate Records: TG 12/4/2/1 “Tate Records: TG 12/4/2/1‘overseas visitors and families for whom the gallery should be a destination in itself rather than a ‘sual visit, Therefore the main concerns that were raised belonged to the realm of user comfort, interactivity and participation ‘On the outside the building was intended to have one external front door for staff and publ but many internal front doors “to promote choice and return visit ethic through “bite size” sections*.'* The organisation of these internal front doors through a central feature was deemed necessary for the visitors to be able to understand the spatial structure of the muscum on entry. Regarding the public spaces the Tate expressed the wish to have escalators for the vertical circulation, river views to take full advantage of the location across from St Paul’s Cathedral, a roof terrace and a means to collect visitors from all directions that approach the building at different levels.'" To be able to accommodate corporate and private events of different sizes the galleries had to provide attractive spaces for dinner parties, receptions and private viewings. Whenever possible those should easily be sealed off from the rest of the gallery to enable bookings during the gallery's opening hours and also to regulate the guests’ access. Based on these strategic plans the brief for the international competition was devised "Tate Records: TG 12/4/2/1 ‘Tate Records: TG 12/4/2/2(03 Model of the west court and ramp 04 Proposal for the river elevation Herzog & de Meuron’s scheme and the reality of built form The competition generated a vast spectrum of proposals, most of which intended to alter the character of the existing architecture rather dramatically. Of the thirteen firms that were asked to participate only the eventual winners, Herzog & de Meuron proposed a scheme that retained the outer appearance of Scott’s design. Their entry for stage one of the competition was conservative and simple compared to most other schemes. Drawings were complemented with a considerable amount of clearly formulated verbal descriptions of which some have persisted up to completion of the project. Regarding the appearance of the building the following remarks were made. ‘The conversion into a gallery of modern art will and must change the outer appearance of the existing building. The building will immediately express and communicate its new function and urban significance; nevertheless it will keep its architectural compactness. The verticality of the brick tower will be balanced by the horizontality of the new skylight lying on top of Boiler House, which is constructed as a beam of glass. The entire building will become a body of light built with brick and glass walls.’!” The assessment of the completed project reveals that although the conversion has changed the outer appearance of the building it can by no means be asserted that its function is thereof immediately ‘communicated to the prospective user as it lacks signs of institutional use, architectural "TG 12/4/5/91 Competition entry stage one, Herzog & de Meuron(05 Model of Scott's design (06 Competition entry site plan 07 Tate Modem as completed or otherwise. Read in conjunction with the Tate’s intentions to reinterpret the conception of a MoMA to attract a broader section of the public this diserepancy between proposal and reality affirms that a reinterpretation of passed down institutional characteristics has as least formally taken place. The appropriation of an industrial building for a different use connotes gentrification of a neighbourhood and as such represents significant changes in the urban fabric. ‘Urban significance’ is ascribed to the architecture though its prominent location that plays a vital role in the branding of Tate Moder, as a cultural institution in London on par with St, Paul’s whose massing Scott confidently translated. Herzog & de Meuron have added to this in conceiving the transformation with strong visual links to the landmark through which the importance of Tate Modern is heightened as well as the location established in terms of its national context. Nonetheless this is not due to this specific architectural intervention but would have worked for any of the proposed schemes as the location speaks for itself, The notions regarding the physicality of the building have proven equally ambivalent. Whereas the horizontality of the light beam may be regarded as balancing the brick tower it also brings the height of Boiler House to the level of the wider urban context and establishes said visual links to the City of London that are crucial to anchoring the building in the desired urban context of the Thames’ north bank. This reading is supported by the unequal treatment of the approaches to the building from north and south, Whereas visitors from the north bank have the comfort of a purpose built bridge over the Thames, the approach from 12(08 & 09 Turbine Hall before and after floor removal 10 & 1 Boiler House before and after plant removal Southwark underground station is marked by orange paint on the street’s lampposts. As of “the body of light’ can only be noted that it is well hidden behind the compactness of the brick fagade during daylight hours. The architectural concept for the conversion was described as ‘radically simple, economical and self-evident’. ‘It takes the maximal profit from the existing building structure. It really deals with the existing volume and with the existing materials. New materials ~ mainly glass walls — will contrast but not break up the compactness of the brick masonry.’'* This sounds very catchy and sits well with the results of the questionnaire send to artists up front, which revealed a favour for the industrial in exhibition spaces. Unfortunately the structure was to begin with not loft-like but a huge container for machinery that had to be removed and which essentially left a brick shell. In the words of Jacques Herzog, ‘Even now, when they look at the building, many people think: ‘What have they actually done?” Because they don’t know that actually there was nothing there ~ it was full of machinery. A large part of ‘our work consisted in clearing up (...). And then we actually invented the building as a museum.” Scott’s building was used ideologically to corroborate the Tate’s choice of the Bankside Power Station and to legitimate an architectural concept that in fact pressed a completely new building into an old shell. The only place in Tate Modern, which actually has any industrial character, is the Turbine Hall that serves as the internal visual signifier "TG 12/4/5/91 Competition entry stage one, Herzog & de Meuron ae Herzog and Dietmar Steiner, ‘Tate Modern, London’, Domus, 828 (2000), pp. 32- 1312 Turbine Hall 13 Vista of St, Paul's Cathedral (the external one being St. Paul’s) in the design. The following was written about it. ‘The Turbine Hall is being converted with minimal architectural and technical interventions into ‘a magnificent entrance hall and exhibition space for temporary art installations, Ramps will ead down on the entrance level of Boiler House. From there all internal areas of Boiler House can be accessed like shops in an urban passage. Turbine Hall will therefore be very important to make the Tate Gallery of Modem Art a very lively and public place, one of London’s most attractive covered public spaces.’ (...) Even pedestrians who are not directly aiming at visiting the exhibition area can walk through the complex and enjoy the lively atmosphere of the Tate Gallery of Modern Art. For this reason Turbine Hall is being converted into the entrance hall whose generous open space reminds us of urban passages. Turbine Hall is not only spectacular because of its logistical advantages for orientation and access to all internal areas; it will also be a wonderful exhibition space for temporary and special installations, whose dimensions are beyond the possibilities of the display space at boiler house.’*” Those words were to be prophetic of the use to come. Not only has the interior affinities to a mall, the contemporary version of an urban passage but it has also generated the ‘Unilever Series’ of temporary exhibitions. ® TG 12/4/5/91 Competition entry stage one, Herzog & de Meuron 1414 Regular use 15 *Maman* 16 ‘Weather Project’ 17 “Embankment” The production of ‘Sensational Events’ In terms of artwork sizing and visitor numbers “The Unilever Series’ has exceeded all of the architect's and Tate’s expectations. Since Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Maman’, a thirty-five foot ?! that was in place when Tate Modern spider sculpture, ‘the largest she has ever made’ ‘opened in May 2000, Juan Muios (‘Double Blind’, 2001), Anish Kapoor (‘Marsyas’, 2002), Olafur Eliasson (‘The Weather Project’, 2003), Bruce Naumann (“Raw Materials’, 2004), Rachel Whiteread (‘Embankment’, 2005), Carsten Holler (“Test Site’, 2006) and Doris Salcedo (‘Shibboleth’, 2007) have received commissions and created a diverse range of artworks for the space. Notwithstanding their radical difference in terms of form, material and concept, their strategies to deal with the Turbine Hall’s bigness were in all cases based on ‘enlargement, expansion, multiplication, amplification or mere inflation’. Thereof am inclined to agree with Robert Morris’ analysis of large artworks, which he described as ‘the Wagner effect in art’, providing ‘simultaneous phenomenal aesthetic fetishes that are also transcendent and generally nationalist cultural idols, which sometimes dazzle as totemic objects pragmatically guaranteed by massive dollar signs and historical pedigrees — all delivered in the package of a sensational event.’”* These ‘sensational events’ held in the Turbine Hall work through the unsettling of the human subject as a point of reference that is 2 hutp://www tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unilever.htm ® Wouter Davidts, ‘The vast and the Void, On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and ‘The Unilever Series”, Footprint, Autumn 2007, p.78 15here exchanged for the architecture whose vast dimensions dictate the artist's strat approaches to the commission through which the ability of the institution to provide and deliver such events is reconfirmed and its nature as an agency for entertainment revealed. Tate Modern’s reinterpretation of a museum for modern art Itis questionable whether a muscum can take part in public entertainment and still remain a cultural space that is capable of a thought provoking confrontation with artworks. Having said this, | am not suggesting that the Tate displays popular culture. What it does is to popularize highbrow culture to an extend that it can hardly be distinguished from any other offer. The display system according to subject matter and the epic descriptions seem to sustain this reading for in fact they emphasise the curator’s role and negate the spectators ability to make that connection (or any other) themselves. Combined with the Turbine Hall's spatiality that dwarfs the visitors to diminutive size this is indeed problematic. Especially so since Tate Modern’s use of an existing shell connotes authenticity thus causing the user to be less aware of the institutional nature of the space. Taking into account the huge amount of merchandise that is on offer that competes for attention with the artworks through its availability for purchase to the visitor (another ‘bite-size offer’) this raises questions about what a museum can and should be in the twenty-first century. Tate Modern is one possible answer to this and notwithstanding the legitimate concems it raises the physical experience of the architecture is exciting through the spectacle it allows a site for. * Robert Morris, ‘Size Matters’, Critical Inquiry, 26, 3, Spring (2000), p.482 as quoted by Woulter Davidts, ‘The Vast and the Void - On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and ‘The Unilever Series’18 Shop at Tate Modern 19 Café at second level As [have indicated in the introduction we have now seen that Tate Modem’s choice of Bankside Power Station was ideologically motivated to build a brand identity that connotes authenticism and, as the generous public funding suggests, politically opportune to promote the regeneration of potentially valuable inner city real estate. The architects, Herzog & de Meuron, developed a design strategy that supported this ideology by reversing architectural elements that signify institutions and exh ition spaces in the user's conception. We have further identified the Turbine Hall as a general signifier for the scheme based on its architectural properties and the temporary exhibitions of “The Unilever Series’. As we shall see in the next section, the physical experience of the architecture affirms the objections that the archival research disclosed. PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE ARCHITECTURE Outward appearance of Tate Modern ‘The experience of Tate Modern begins on the approach to the building. One possible route that is particularly rewarding in terms of understanding its relation to the place it occupies within the boundaries of London is to head south from St Paul’s Cathedral, across the Millennium Bridge towards the gallery. It is a forward journey through time. Religion, industry and lately art successively present their claims on the city Scott’s architecture stands confidently vis-a-vis St Paul’s, at first as a symbol of progress and then as a sign of economic decay. Its reinvention as cultural space is initially subtle, The 720 Millennium Bridge 21 Tate Moder river elevation horizontal light beams that hover over a dark brick fagade have a shade somewhere between the river and the London sky. It is the Millennium Bridge that makes the public interest explicit, leading a steam of visitors across the river. The space around the building is understatedly covered in tarmac. Several lines of narrowly set young trees standing between the western half of the building’s north elevation and the Thames. From this perspective the building reveals very little about its actual function, The institutional character, often inherent in museums of similar scale is absent. Close-up of the exterior On the ground floor comer between north and west elevation, a simple, frameless glazing reflects the gaze back and closer to it reveals a buzzing restaurant whose interior echoes the industrial notes of brick and tarmac. Further along the side of the building a downward ramp, not unlike a driveway to underground parking leads into the building. The atmosphere is calm and casual, nothing hints at the presence of a museum but the groups of pupils and the general presence of people with cameras. As before, the ground of the outer ramp is covered in tarmac, a material link between road surface and public space that eases the way into the building. At the right hand side of ita flight of low stairs, sporadically used as seating, Only signage distinguishes this entrance from a service dock. 1822 €23 West enirance to Tate Moden’s Turbine Hall 24 Ramp and west entrance The west entrance to the Turbine Hall ‘The actual demarcation between inside and outside is glazed at the full height and width of the opening. Sliding doors prevent a physical contact with the building envelope. Once the doors are passed the surrounding sound immediately changes and reveals the vast size of the Turbine Hall. A quick glance confirms the dimensions the acoustics suggested. To the left the building is filled with several storeys of similar height that overlook the Turbine Hall at its full length. Occasionally four room-sized boxes that seem to hang onto the structural steel columns like elevators protrude into the space. Their windows are merely screening the enquiring downward looks from other visitors. The sensation of being watched is mixed with the unexpected pleasure of having such a vast amount of space at one’s disposal. A space that for once in my memory of public architecture forces a descend upon the user. Descending into the building The ramp’s downward slope heightens the impact of gravity on my bodily movements. It is hard not to be impressed by such spatial generosity. Other visitors seem to be under the influence of the space’s size, too. Quite a few of them are standing still for some time to take in the view. Children are the first to seize the opportunity for unexpected bodily movements. They are rolling themselves down the ramp, running up and down until they are falling upon each other. Some adults attempt sliding for a bit, others stretch in slow movements. The atmosphere is playful and unregulated, 1 count 96 people on the ramp, it is 1925,26 & 27 Turbine Hall activities twelve o'clock on a bright Sunday in July. Voices are mixing into a sound-scape that wraps everybody into a sea of comfort. The outward expressions of this are lively conversations suggesting that people consider themselves not overheard and their bodily counterparts, skipping, sliding, stretching and sitting. Even lying on the ramp seems perfectly acceptable in this situation, The spectacle is watched from numerous sides. The constituting elements of the Turbine Hall and their atmospheres ‘The foyers of the galleries, the main concourse at street level and the bridge that runs across Turbine Hall at half length all supplying eager spectators that either observe the scene directly or use it as a backdrop for their own conversations. All seem united in an experience that suggests openness and inclusion. This is reinforced by the obvious diversity of visitors that have been drawn into Tate Modern, Old and new materials are layered effortlessly, the imprints on the structural columns still decipherable under black paint. Matt walls in a muddy colour step back to allow the bright natural light to carve the space out of its brick shell. At the bottom of the ramp, about halfway through the Turbine Hall the spatiality changes abruptly, the playfulness is gone. Rectangular openings lie flush in a white painted wall, each complemented with a screen above. This i the ticket counter; it seems provisional, akin to alterations made in a squatted building. On the opposite site the intersection between the gallery’s circulation space and the Turbine Hall is again, as before marked by glass walls that reflect the gaze back into the 2028 Ticket counter ~~ 29 Siairsto bridge 30 Bridge in Turbine Hall space. The entrance is even more casual than the sliding doors to the Turbine Hall. A simple ‘opening in the glass whose modest size is at odds with the amount of visitors that passes through it, Here the Turbine Hall’s impact is absorbed and the space scaled down through the insertion of a concrete bridge that, at the next level, forms a viewing platform, which connects the Boiler House with the southern wall of the Turbine Hall. The space beneath it feels cold and uninviting; the visitors pass through it quickly, either entering the circulation space of shops and galleries or ascending to the platform on a flight of dark, worn out metal stairs. Very few people make their way to the far end of the hall. It forms the last of the five sensory units that constitute the Turbine Hall in its physical boundaries. The ramp, the bridge, the space below the bridge / at the bottom of the ramp, views into the Turbine Hall from Boiler House / the main concourse and the second half of it behind the bridge each have a specific character, fitting into one another like an architectural jigsaw. The liberating effects of the ramp are heightened as well as kept in check by the observation from Boiler House and the main concourse. At the bottom of the ramp and under the bridge the atmosphere is sobering and uninviting as if to prevent a disruption of either Boiler House access or ticket sales. On the bridge one is at once subject and object of observation albeit without an implicit invitation to mess about. This makes the place comfortable in relation to the space beneath it but less pleasant for lingering than the ramp that encourages active exploration or the second half that looks dull from the ramp’s bottom but is nonetheless the ‘most inviting section of the space for a rest. 231 Industral relicts 32 Escalators 33 Gallery foyer 34 Street level bypassing ‘As a dead end in terms of visitor access the second half remains contemplative at the busiest of times. The end wall is made of opaque glass at ground level. It meets with the intersecting glass wall between Boiler House and Turbine Hall that is also opaque between this comer and the beginning of the platform. One of the greenish light boxes protrudes into the space directly under the roof. Although it offers a similarly good overview of the hall it is far less frequented than its counterparts that overlook the ramp. Below the ceiling hangs industrial machinery, relicts from the buildings past. In conjunction with the protruding box, that seems ever more like it was going to move downwards along the columns that hold it, this place has the atmosphere of an abandoned film set. Excitement is here exchanged for calmness, two backpackers rest in a comer, like it was an offside to a train station concourse. The experience of Boiler House From the quietness in the end piece of Turbine Hall back to the door that leads into Boiler House. A smooth flow of visitors circulates through the building. Starting from the lower ground floor the escalators provide a disengaged, mall-like way of transportation. After a slight confusion over the fact that the street level is bypassed the escalators access the galleries at levels three, four and five. A nondescript open stairway lies opposite of the lifts This circulation space runs with the same efficiency as a large department store, 2235, 36 & 37 Galleries in Boiler House Straightforward, quick and with minimum interruption the visitors are channelled to their respective destinations within the building. In the large foyers between the galleries and the Turbine Hall the visitor changes from the observed (on the ramp or on the bridge) to the ‘observer. Benches and other seating are placed strategically in front of the bay windows that at each level overlook the hall. Consequentially the Turbine Hall now features in the visitor’s experience as an exhibit in itself. This ensures that its presence becomes inescapable irrespectively of the route one chooses to get around the building. The experience of the galleries is disturbingly at odds with the importance than is ascribed to the proper viewing of the Turbine Hall. Few contain any seating or intimate corners, vital to establish personal space in the process of viewing art. The uniformity of the white rooms with high ceilings is soon enough tiring. As John Loughery noted ‘(...) a long, slow trudge through rooms (...) which left me feeling like the proverbial rat in the maze.” Besides they seem to suggest that a diverse spectrum of works may in principle be viewed in the same way, If one gets a chance to view them at all, in the steady stream of spectators that rolls through the exhibitions. This leaves the impression that the museum is not build around the artworks but in a manner similar to the ‘architectural excess’ the Tate claimed to be avoiding build around Turbine Hall. As before, it is the direction that has been changed, not the route. Whereas the ramp descends into the space to signify understatement and * Loughery, “The future of museums: The Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Tate Modern’, in The Hudson Review, Vol.53, No. 4, p.635 2338 Turbine Hall 39 Light box in Turbine Hall 40 Stairs beside the ramp inclusion, the Turbine Hall forms the building’s internal core in a move that disguises its participation in creating a spectacle because it cannot be detected externally. Factually it has been internalized. Alternative experience of the Turbine Hall and Boiler House ‘Ona weekday, however, the experience is largely different from this. A sober quietness fills the Turbine Hall, less that ten people are on the ramp or further down in front of the ticket counters. Instead of stretches and loud conversations visitors are noticeably reticent. No one lingers longer than necessary to understand the internal organisation of the space. Voices are kept down and upward glances to the foyer’s bay windows and the bridge imply that the space’s impact has changed from liberating to oppressing. Its vastness drastically reduces the visitor in size and the spectacle of the void leaves many speechless. Nothing is different in the architecture but the number of users in the space. A close inspection of the Turbine Hall, triggered by the uneasiness that results from a lack of body cover, reveals five tiny surveillance cameras that complement the leisurely observation from the gallery floors. Everyone is alone and constantly visible, swallow by a single inflated cell of Bentham’s Panopticum. The opportunity for constant surveillance hereby renders the necessity of visible staff useless whereof the impression of an unregulated space, ‘a huge free gift to the public’ as Rowan Moore noted in ‘Architecture in Motion’ is given. Unfortunately he is mislead in thinking that ‘it does not dictate to the visitors how they should experience it,which, in a time when public space is used ever more intensively to market, to sell and to deliver massages, is a precious quality’.”* As should be clear, architecture never dictates but suggests use, which may then be translated into a spatial practice. Therefore the first point is missed, as of the second it seems noteworthy that the reverse is true. Turbine Hall’ ightly unfinished and raw appearance that suggests authenticity and the generous scale are precedents to the Tate’s marketing strategy as a ‘different’ kind of cultural space, a counterpoint to architectural Disneyland and crucial to its branding as the leading provider for art experiences that are truly contemporary in that they obscure the museums function as a backwards oriented agency that orders and collects what has actually happened elsewhere. This is heightened through ‘The Unilever Series’ that gives the impression to be produced by the space itself. ‘The galleries, however, are less exhausting on a quiet day and their spareness gives the adventurous curational plays with the artworks plenty of stage. Although this should raise questions of the relations between institution, artist, artwork, curator and spectator it actually does not, until much later, when relieved from the omnipotent impact of the architecture that keeps the visitor permanently occupied with digesting the institutional branding. Internally with the ever-present Turbine Hall and extemally with the posteard vista of St. Paul’s Cathedral that relates the experience back to its metropolitan location, Through this Tate Modem closes ranks with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao that has a similar effect from a different perspective, its external view. ‘As should be clear now, the architecture of Tate Modern is susceptible to experiences that cither affirm the Tate’s strategy and the architectural moves that we have explored in the first section of this essay, or it discloses a reading to the user that unintentionally exposes these strategies as corrupting. On the basis of this observation we will now revisit the * Rowan Moore, Architecture in Motion, p. 30, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years 25discussion of phenomenology as a set of methods to analyse the perception of architecture that I sketched out in the introduction. PHENOMENOLOGICAL READINGS OF TATE MODERN Introduction The following encounter with the architecture argues for the possibility of a phenomenological reading of Tate Modern. It introduces the relevant philosophical projects and thereof the methodologies applied in reading the space. Since the 1960s phenomenology has informed a productive and inspirational discourse of architecture that despite criticisms made by followers of neo-Marxism, structuralism, post structuralism and post-colonialism consistently inspired scholarship and practice in architecture. The structure of this text is based on the thesis that phenomenology is a set of methods rather than a coherent school of thought. It assumes that these methods cach present a new beginning in the field of phenomenology and may be applied to analyse the perception of architecture irrespectively of an ideological correlation between the texts and the architecture that is studied. A brief introduction to the historical development will explain how I have arrived at this understanding of phenomenology. Outlines of Martin Heidegger’s and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological projects are then presented in relation to Sartre’s notion of freedom. Each of these methodologies is then applied to analyses of Tate Modem’s architecture that are grounded on the perceptions of the physical experience that we discussed. 26The launch of phenomenology Phenomenology was inspired by Brentano's lectures on descriptive psychology (1888/89) that he thought of as the a priori science of the fundamental laws of the human mind.” Later ic knowledge of all kinds.”” Husserl developed this notion into a method to describe scien His conception of the relationship between subject and object rejected the representationalist, idea of a mental image that represents in the subject what exists on the outside. Instead he conceived of a direct engagement with the world between subject and object that must be represented in philosophical enquiry as an account of how things appear to consciousness.”* The key concept resulting from this is that the description of phenomena as they appear to consciousness must be prior to all causal explanation. He then introduced the term “intentionality” to describe that mental acts are always about an object they relate to. Whether or not this object actually exists made no difference to the thesis. This was the crucial point in the early development of phenomenology. By eliminating the questioning of the actual existence of an object that is present in a subject’s mental acts through the bond of intentionality it became logically sound to proceed directly to the subject’s account of the experience. This reduced the separation of subject and object and led to an increased value of subjectivity in philosophy. As a result phenomenological methods are capable of successfully integrating subjective accounts of experience into larger conceptual frameworks. Although the interpretations of the central issues in phenomenology and the application of what is seen as phenomenological method are largely dissimilar, it can be understood as a number of philosophical projects that describe being in terms of how experience manifests itself in the subject’s consciousness.” Thereof arises the opportunity to discuss buildings through methodologies that each promote a different focus on Being: the-world but nonetheless still operate on roughly the same philosophical ground. % Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, p.35 2” Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, p.39 * Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, p.13 27Architectural discourse mostly refers to two of Husserl’s successors, Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty for their direct theoretical engagement with architecture and art respectively. Based on the specific character of the Turbine Hall | will also introduce Sartre's conception of freedom in relation to Merleau-Ponty to discuss the potential and inhibitions of a seemingly unregulated space. Preliminary summary of Heidegger's notion of architecture In his mayor work, ‘Being and Time’ (1927) Heidegger developed the Husserlian notions ‘consciousness’ and ‘intentionality’ to an irreducible relation between the subject and the world that he described as ‘Being-in-the-world’. It was his point zero for ontological questioning and the re-launch he devised in phenomenology. In 1951 he presented “Building Dwelling Thinking’, a conference paper, to an audience of architects and philosophers that has since widely been used as a primary text in architecture, In it he reflects on the fundamental elements (earth, sky, mortals, di es) that in his understanding constitute world. He situates architecture at the nexus of this so-called ‘fourfold’ and defines it as an act that reveals the essence of human being and makes the unfolding of human existence in time explicit. To support his argument he uses the etymology of the old German word “buan’ (dwelling) that over time changed to ‘bauen’ (building) as well as the example of an ancient Black Forest farm house in which the stages of human life (from birth to death) have their specific places and are expressed in the architecture along with the domestic order. This understanding of architecture as a specific, small scale activity that is personal rather than professional taken at face value is highly problematic because it excludes complex domestic relations, changes of use and financially constrained situations that prevent the individual from building. It also neglects the reality of an urban lifestyle that is spatially fragmented rather than local. Nonetheless the standard * Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, p.4 28,interpretation of Heideggerian thought runs along those lines inviting the criticism of promoting an image of authenticism in architecture that leads to exclusion. It is this narrow understanding of Heidegger that I wish to challenge by discussing a building that is very unlike an ancient farmhouse in scale, location and use. The aim is to demonstrate that phenomenology understood as a method rather than a rigid prescription is capable of locating running room for ontological questioning in unlikely places. Heideggerian notions of self-awareness through dwelling will herein inform an analysis of the building that explores how the original meaning of the architecture may still be present in the architectural conversion of the building and how this affects the user’s experience of the space. Being and situatedness: A Heideggerian reading of the perception of Turbine Hall and Boiler House Dwelling For Heidegger the question of being is inextricably connected to dwelling. “Bauen originally means to dwell, Where the word bauen still speaks in its original sense it also says how far the essence of dwelling reaches. (...) The way in which you are and I am, the manner in which we humans are on the earth, is buan, dwelling.’™ This suggests that being and dwelling cannot be separated because the situatedness of man in the world is expressed and reflected through dwelling. In the contemporary urban context, to which Tate Modern belongs, dwelling is not only a local activity that takes place in the realm of the home but an activity that gives meaning to a place that has been cleared by the individual for its own use. legger, Basic Writings, p.325 29‘1 Original structure in Turbine Hall 42 Factory stamps 43 Oak flooring in Galleries Location and timely situatedness: Turbine Hall The availability of countless possibilities for a city’s inhabitants to make use of places and through that create meanings that distinguish them as locations is well expressed in Heidegger's conception of freedom. As Olafson nicely puts it regarding Heidegger it is ‘our way of being in the world that makes us free.”*' Meaning that human beings possess openness towards the world that makes them transcend themselves towards possibilities they may or may not actualise, This openness also makes use of architecture to make world as the manifestation of being visible. In the Turbine Hall this is addressed through the architectural transformation that makes explicit the existence of time in that the differences between old and new materials allow for a timely situatedness of the building. It transcends what it is now through the presence of the past (in absence) and simultaneously makes place for the future. This distinguishes the architecture from a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ that always remains self-referential because it leaves no running room for the imagination. Being able to perceive the passing of time and one’s situatedness in it through the architecture gives the ‘experience of the Turbine Hall a depth that is often missing. If it is present it makes room for the experience of difference that is necessary for the reflection of being. In the case of Turbine Hall this is nonetheless hindered by the seamless intertwining of old and new. Unlike other converted buildings, in which a clear distinction between original and new * Olafson, Freedom and Responsil Existentialism, p.267 ty, A Companion to Phenomenology and 3044 Old and new materials 45 Trace of “Shibboleth” work is made, Herzog & de Meuron have blurred the boundaries at Tate Modern. Consequentially the timely situatedness of the building is hard to grasp. This effect is increased through Scott’s brick exterior that may well be thought of as an early twentieth century structure rather than a post-war building. Therefore the perception of time through the architecture remains a possibility than relies heavily on the subject’s openness in engaging thoughtfully with the space. The presence of absence: Boiler House Due to the factual insertion of a completely new building into Boiler House none of that applies to the exhibition spaces that are deprived of any industrial character. Standing in the tradition of white cube gallery spaces only their untreated wooden floorboards are subject to ‘markings that show the effects of use and time, The foyers are spatial hybrids that allow for a reading in relation to time only in conjunction with the Turbine Hall vista. Unfortunately the bay windows and light boxes have an adverse effect on this because they show a representation of the space that is reductive. Therefore it is perceived as an image that furthermore lessens the inhil jons against observing visitors that are located in the Turbine Hall. 3116 Foyer wth bay window to Turbine Hall 47 Foyer in Boiler House view to exalts The relation between dwelling and observation ‘The inhibition that the representation of the space poses against its timely situatedness is concurrent with its advancement of the specific kinds of dwelling that the Turbine Hall allows for at different times. On busy days the observation has a cumulative effect on the spectacle of use that brings about playful and liberating qualities in the character of the space. The same happens with the oppressing sensations that are characteristic for its effect in a state of emptiness. This correlation illustrates how the architecture's openness may be realized through the activity of dwelling, in the sense of clearing a space for one’s use, in multiple ways. Like Heidegger's farmhouse that is made possible through the dwelling of peasants that live in it and the slope and mountain where itis situated, Tate Modem is realized through the use that is made of it. Not through a families succeeding generations that leave a mark on its physical appearance but through the stream of visitors that each may ‘or may not actualize the space’s potential for the duration of a visit. Each of those ‘occupations appropriates the space, leaving a mark in the user's memory that may well be regarded as akin to a physical contribution to the space. Meaning In a manner similar to conceiving of a vernacular building Tate Modern may be understood as grown out of the Bankside Power Station through the envisaged ‘dwelling’ of artworks48 Dwelling as mass event (flash mob) 49 Dwelling as singular activity and visitors by the Tate that preceded the process of transformation from an industrial to a cultural building. In Heidegger's understanding to dwell authentically is to dwell poetically because poetry reveals the truth in a primordial state. This may well apply to the architecture of the Turbine Hall that is elemental and contradictory (old cranes, new glass panes), therefore allows for a complex perception of the space It also pays tribute to the modernist angst that ‘all that is solid melts into air’ in that the character and original use of the power station are not only allowed to shine through but are essential to the re-use, A container for generators has become a container for artworks. Through this the building sets a sign against the notion of disposability that dominates consumer culture, Nonetheless other parts of the building knowingly integrate retail concepts into the design in what could be understood as an attempt to make the experience of art akin to the convenience of a department store visit. With social boundaries thus removed Tate Modem draws an exclusive mix of users that each realize the buildings potential differently. The urban context ‘The Millennium Bridge is crucial in the location of Tate Modern. It allows a site for in that it connects it to the river and the other side of the city, forming a physical counterpart to * Marshall Berman, ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ 33the view of St, Paul’s Cathedral that establishes the architecture locally in the urban fabric of London, The building as itis after the transformation produces a location through its use that has given a fresh meaning to the place where it stands. After falling into oblivion due to the closure the site had almost been emptied of a meaningful relation to London. Its re- launch has created a local spin-off that led to a transformation of the neighbourhood through the meaning that the building’s use attributed to it. The identity of the place has changed. The user’s relation to the space is further explored in the following section that discusses physical engagement with the space’s openness on the grounds of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological project set in relation to Sartre’s notion of freedom, Preliminary summary of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological project Merleau-Ponty transformed Husserl’s beginning in a different direction from Heidegger. He concentrated his phenomenological work on visual perception and the corporeality of being- in-the-world.** One essay, “Eye and Mind” (1961) that discusses the phenomenology of painting raised significant interest in the discourse of art history and its profound conception of the relation between corporeality and consciousness has since been appropriated to theorizing sculpture.” This in turn opened the text to architectural discourse because viewing sculpture is regarded as similar to the perception of everyday phenomena and the perception of architecture can either be akin to viewing art (in a mode of contemplation) or in partial obliviousness to the object (everyday life). Throughout his work he aimed to go beyond conceptions that things are either objectively given or a product of the operations of a reflective mind. Both notions were rejected as reductions of being a body-subject whose mind is intrinsically connected to the body it inhabits."* His writings offered a way to re- Moran, Introduction to Phenomenology, p.13 “ Potts, Sculptural Imagination- Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, p.213 *S Priest, Merleau-Ponty, p.57think viewing and visual perception in relation to subject and object that sanctioned a discourse of subjectivity in terms of movement and bodily feeling." This enables a reading of architecture as a relationship between the user and the object that takes the experience of architecture seriously. His main concept was that of a bodily subject whose mind is one with the totality of its motor projects. He noted ‘Everything I see is in principle within my reach, (..) and is marked upon the map of the “I can”. (...) The visible world and the world of my motor projects are each total parts of the same Being."”” This defines the world as a space that is constituted through vision and movement by an ‘incarnate subject" that perceives and moves, ‘compounded of relationships with the world’.”” Movement here introduces time into space because it enables us to map the ‘spatial arena’.“’ Past, present and future become tangible through our bodily involvement with the world, This involvement is not without responsibility, for the ‘relationships with the world’ of which we are compounded determine the decisions we make. Sartre opposed this notion of responsibility with an idea of radical subjectivity that grounded his notion of freedom. Since the perception of Tate Modem suggests a strong influence of relationships with other human beings and the architecture on the experience, we will now briefly run through Sartre’ conception because the autonomy he proposes is crucial to the reflection of Tate Modern. Preliminary summary of Sartre's notion of freedom Jean-Paul Sartre's first mayor work, ‘Being and Nothingness’ (Sartre 1956) was informed by Heidegger's ‘Being and Time’ (1927). In many respects it was also very different from “ Potts, Sculptural Imagination- Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, p.208-09 * Merleau-Ponty, ‘Eye and Mind’ in Primacy of Perception, p.162 * Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, p.11] ” Glendinning, In the Name of Phenomenology, p.135 “ Potts, Sculptural Imagination- Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, p.208it. While he tried to reconcile Husserl and Heidegger" he greatly enlarged the significance of freedom in his account of being.”® We are, as he noted, ‘condemned to be free” because no situation is without an alternative. In his understanding our lives have to be judged in the light of the choices we make (even if we choose to do nothing). Through this notion he embraces the idea of a radical subjectivity that is not concerned with moral judgments because essentially each one of us is always profoundly alone. This is exciting because it affirms that we do in fact have a choice however inconvenient that may be in a given situation. What it clearly lacks is a notion of responsibility that goes beyond simply avoiding ‘bad faith’. Here, again, his work has to be seen in relation to another exponent of phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty, who took issue with this extreme negativity and especially Sartre's conception of freedom, From Merleau-Ponty’s perspective on phenomenology that was grounded on our corporeality and the complex relationships with the world and other human beings that consequentially relate us to them, it was inconceivable that this may not presuppose our choices." This conflict between potential and actual choices becomes evident in the use visitors make of the vast turbine hall space. Although the ‘spatial arena’ in itself allows for a multitude of different uses the actual choices are heavily influenced by the shifting relations that evolve between the users of the space at any given time. How those relations are promoted in the experience of Tate Modem and to what extend this may be ascribed to the architectural concept will be discussed in the following section in relation to Merleau-Ponty and the corporeality of space. “He abandoned Husserl’s phenomenological reduction and tried to combine the remainder with Heidegger's conception of being-in-the-world. A project that ended in disappointment and that led to a dismissal of his own writings on phenomenology. * Olafson, Freedom and Responsibility, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, p.268 “ Olafson, Freedom and Responsibility, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, p.269 3650 "Marsyas" 51 Turbine Hall ~~ 52"Embankment The corporeality of space: An analysis of Tate Modern in relation to Merleau-Ponty and Sartre Spatial relations Scale and size of the Turbine Hall may only be compared to few religious structures. It has, at least ona first encounter, an overwhelming effect on the user. It conflicts with the notion of the human body being the point zero of spatiality“ in that it negates this connection through its size. Nothing in it hints at the user’s own dimensions but the cleverly hidden staff doors at the back of the hall and the stairs, one to the left of the entrance and the other ‘one below the bridge. This dwarfs the human body to diminutive size, a move that is, interpreted in art to ‘overwhelm and pacify. . User's reactions confirm this by a pausing that almost inevitably follows upon entering the space. Depending on the number of people in the space this pause is superseded with either a relatively quick passing through the space that ignores the ramp’s potential for unusual bodily movements, which may be related to the atmosphere of observation that penetrates the Turbine Hall in a state of emptiness. Or, on the contrary, the bodily cover from a mass of other visitor's triggers an adventurous exploration of the space that has a quaint resemblance to a massively inflated playground by Aldo van Eyk. “ Merleau-Ponty, “Eye and Mind’ in Primacy of Perception, p.178 “James Meyer, ‘No more scale. The experience of size in contemporary sculpture’, Artforum, 42, 10 (2004) p.228, as quoted by Woulter Davidts, “The Vast and the Void - On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and “The Unilever Series” 3753 Rolling 54 Jumping 55 Running, Bodily perception, vision and movement Instead of prescriptions for use, the ramp offers a plain surface that invites exploration because it induces awareness through the bodily confrontation with the imbalance caused by the slope. The centre of gravity is slightly shifted and slows the pace down. This lengthens the time spend on the ramp and thereof increases the Turbine Hall’s impact on the user. Boiler House’s internal organisation is more easily grasped and the descend into the building makes the process of entering, for the Turbine Hall is despite its dimensions an entrance, surprisingly easy compared to an ascending flight of stairs. Through the clear visibility of Tate Modem’s organisation the whole of the building changes from unknown to mapped territory for the user. Vision creates the opportunity for movement in the perceiving subject’s mind that is thus entering into a relationship with the architecture. The actual experience is then checked against the possible experience the visual relation to the building suggested. Therefore it is compounded of the idea of space and the real spatial experience. Perception of time Based on the movement from one place to another and the space’s ability to be visually explored and then, later, bodily experienced, time is introduced to the experience for the difference between the visual connection, which allows for an idea of the spaces to come 38‘56 Main concourse 57 Views from Boiler House into Turbine Hall and the real experience signifies the passing of time. At Tate Moder this relation is exceptionally strong through the viewing lines between the Turbine Hall and the bay windows of Boiler House that are a shortcut to the physical link that connects the two halves. A closed system Although the building is essentially based on the interior links to the Turbine Hall from numerous perspectives as well as the external link to the riverfront with St. Paul’s Cathedral both are not visually connected (viz. It is impossible to view the river or for that matter any other outside area from the Turbine Hall). The west entrance to the Turbine Hall is therein negligible because the glazing reflects the gaze back into the space. Therefore it remains self-referential, the discontinuity to Boiler House being an extension of Turbine Hall. It exists without a disrupting relation to the world, its character essentially maternal in that it is capable of delivering assurance for the user. Social relations are staged, reflecting an ‘understanding of society in which everyone is united in performance and observation of a spectacle. Consequentially the ramp may be related to Scully’s notion of Baroque architecture. The ‘order is absolutely firm, but against it an illusion of freedom is played. . It is therefore an architecture that is intended to enclose and shelter human beings in a psychic sense, to order them absolutely so they can always find a known conclusion at the end of any journey, but finally to let them play at freedom and action all the while. ... It is 39a maternal architecture, and creates a world with which today, only children, if they are lucky, could identify." This notion is supported by the activities of children that use the space. Running, rolling, sliding and skipping, shouting and laughing, unaware of the order that is firmly in place they occupy the space to the dismay of their parent who sometimes try to restrain them, more often giving in, relived that the order is such that it allows for play. The collateral damage lies in the adoption of an uncritical attitude towards the institution that provided the space. The view of St, Paul’s Cathedral has a similar effect because its perspective is akin to the one that at least subconsciously is widely known through the media. It is perceived as a representation of an object that exists in the user's mental space, which again, as before, serves as an extension to the spatial practice of show and display that characterises the experience of Tate Modern. An image therefore that is already inherent in the subject, thus not capable of creating a sense of disruption or in other words an experience of difference that would be necessary to provoke reflection in the user. This leads to the absurd situation that an architecture, which was build to facilitate the confrontation with artworks, allows for their consumption but eludes itself and the works it contains from reflection at the same time, The challenge of autonomy At Tate Modern the subject experiences a set of relations between the architecture and the user that is problematic because it essentially avoids a reflective discourse. This notion is notwithstanding the opportunity for a critical discourse that I suggested in relation to a Heideggerian reading of the space. If the subject remains in a state of openness towards the architecture, not committed to the corrupting effects of a seemingly unregulated space, “bad faith’ in the sense of an uncritical belief that consequentially may prevent the subject from a controversial evaluation of the experience can be avoided. This autonomy of the subject in “Vincent Scully, Modern Architecture and Other Essays, p.10spatial practice is based on the Sartrean notion of freedom in that it postulates a relation between the building and the user in which the later is able to reject the generosity of the architecture in favour of a critical understanding, This freedom is arrived at through an alternative choice that negates being superficially pleased, ‘overwhelmed and pacified” by an experience that attempts to annihilate the autonomy of the subject in that it incorporates it into Tate Modern’s construction of brand identity. As John Holden rightfully noted, “the public are themselves part of the Tate Modern phenomenon’. If this participation in ‘the Tate Modern phenomenon’ is critical rather than unthoughtful it allows for an unusual experience of the architecture through spatial practice. In terms of bodily movement this. experience has to be transcended to retain the subjects autonomy that is ultimately indispensable to allow for the production of cultural value that is vital for Tate Modern to be legitimate in its operation as a museum. In the course of this section on phenomenology the difficulty of self-awareness through the experience of architecture was discussed. We have therein seen that in the spirit of phenomenology’s understanding of its purpose as a return to the things themselves, it is possible to apply Heidegger's notions of dwelling, location and timely situatedness as well as Merleau-Ponty’s conception of corporeality and the resulting mapping of space to an analysis of architecture regardless of the buildings ability to provide a detectable grounding, for ontological questioning. To quote Heidegger once again, ‘Our reference to the Black Forest farm in no way means that we should or could go back (...) rather it illustrates by a dwelling that has been how it was able to build." In other words, the experience of | difference in a building that does not allow for dwelling makes explicit how it would be able to provide a location for dwelling through the presence of absence. John Holden, The Cultural Value of Tate Modern, p.35 “ Martin Heidegger, “Building Dwelling Thinking’, in ‘rethinking Architecture’, p.109 4CONCLUSION ‘Ione sees the behaviour of a living thing one sees its soul.” ‘Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, § 357 This essay is a reading response to the perception of the architecture of Tate Modern. The encounters with the building have each produced a reading that is inherent in the thing itself. Archival research enabled a wider perspective of the architecture that is in contrast to the physical experience. It has shown that Scott’s building was used ideologically to corroborate Tate’s choice of the Bankside Power Station as a significant location across from St. Paul's Cathedral, The architect’s conception was described as simple measures that dealt with the existing building. It was demonstrated that this was in fact untrue, for Herzog stated that “actually there was nothing there (...) we (...) invented the building as a museum.” This, again, proves the strategic use of an ideology that suggests authenticism to distinguish Tate Modem from other international museums of modem art in its quest to find a reinterpretation that is suitable for ‘20" century visual culture’. As we have seen this led to a reversal of common conceptions about art museums through the removal of sharp distinctions between permanent and temporary exhibitions, galleries and circulation spaces and an inverted portico with a descending ramp and nondescript entrance instead of n of ascending stairs and stately doors. Aesthetically the gallery spaces stand in the tradi the white cube, whereas the Turbine Hall as the only space at Tate Modern that has affinities to an industrial loft is massively inflated and has thereof produced artworks that each dealt with the space through ‘enlargement, expansion, multiplication, amplification or mere inflation’.*' Consequentially Tate Moder has been exposed as popularizing and simplifying highbrow culture to “sensational events’ that connote authenticity, which is supported by the * Jacques Herzog and Dietmar Steiner, “Tate Modern, London’, Domus, 828 (2000), pp. 32- 44 (p.40) “' Tate Records: TG 12/4/2/1 *! Wouter Davidts, “The vast and the Void, On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and “The Unilever Series", Footprint, Autumn 2007, p.78 42thematic grouping of artworks that overemphasise the curator’s role in relation to the spectator and obscure the institutional nature of the place. ‘The physical encounter demonstrated the significance of the relation between user and architecture in architectural discourse. It showed that the perception of Tate Modern varies substantially depending on the amount of users in the space. Crowds generate a playful atmosphere of openness and inclusion in the Turbine Hall that covers the latent panopticism ks between Turbine Hall and Boiler House. In states of near that results from the visual emptiness the panoptic effect increases sharply and visitors quickly recede to Boiler House to change from observed to observer. The focus on Turbine Hall makes it omnipotent in the user's experience and elevates its significance over the artworks, which are exhibited in spaces whose spare sameness is tiring and unable to compete with the excitement generated by the Turbine Hall that by means of ‘The Unilever Series’ even gives the impression of producing artworks. This, again, obscures the museum’s institutional character and blurs the demarcation between artwork and museum, whereof a process of mutual identification is enabled that seems problematic in its positivism. A similar tendency was detected in the users, who seem generally pleased with the provision of “bite-size” cultural entertainment and happily associate themselves with one of Britain’s super-brands that provides an unparalleled interior space with appropriately sized artworks (e.g. the ‘biggest spider she (Louise Bourgeois) has ever made’).” The public is therein part of the spectacle that creates ‘phenomenal aesthetic fetishes that are also transcendent and generally nationalist cultural 1 idols’** as Morris rightfully noted regarding the effect of exceptionally large artworks. Notwithstanding this criticism it seems noteworthy that Tate Modern has effectively opened the realm of modem art to a highly diverse set of visitors that may otherwise not have been © hutp://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unilever.htm ® Robert Morris, ‘Size Matters’, Critical Inquiry, 26, 3, Spring (2000), p.482 as quoted by Woulter Davidts, ‘The Vast and the Void - On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and “The Unilever Series™” 43attracted to it. In the words of Chris Smith, “Tate Modern tempts them in to see the building, and then shows them the art too. And many will come away liking it." How this building may be read phenomenological, in the sense of a methodology that is applied to the reflection of the perception of architecture was then explored in relation to the phenomenological projects of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty and Sartre’s notion of freedom. The Heideggerian reading argued that dwelling might be understood as a temporary activity that clears a space for use and gives it a meaning through the appropriation. Each of those appropriations would then leave a mark in the user’s memory that contributes to the perception of space, again locating architecture at the intersection between concept and experience, through the presence of the past (in absence) in the present that transcends itself towards a future that may or may not be actualized. The same openness was located in the architecture of Turbine Hall. Layers of old and new materials allow for a timely situatedness. of the building and its re-launch suggests a sustainability of the place that has changed from a container for generators to a container for artworks. It was argued that the transformation might be understood in relation to the dwelling that made a place for Heidegger's notorious farmhouse in that Tate Modem grew out of the existing shell of Scott’s architecture even though this only applies to the Turbine Hall, which suggested its use as a single space, for Boiler House is essentially a new, purpose-built structure that was pressed into an existing shell. It was also noted that the meaning ascribed to Tate Modern through its users’ steady appropriation of the space created a local spin-off that transformed the neighbourhood and changed the identity of the place The use of Tate Modern was then subject to a phenomenological analysis of the corporeality of space. Scale and size of Turbine Hall were identified as conflicting with the notion of the human body as point zero of spatiality, which is also obvious in the artworks of “The Unilever Series’ that replace the human body as reference with the dimensions of the “ Rt Hon Chris Smith, “The Political Impact’, p.19 in Tate Modern: The First Five Yearsarchitecture. Observations on site confirmed an overwhelming effect of the space on the user that is interpreted in art to ‘pacify’ the spectator.** The perception of time was also located on the level of bodily perception through the connection of movement and vision the Turbine Hall and adjacent Boiler House allowed for, which proved my initial thesis those philosophical projects in phenomenology may be understood as a set of methods. Notwithstanding this, the relations that are staged in the Turbine Hall and the galleries’ foyers in Boiler House were identified as self-referential because they cxist without a disrupting relation to the world beyond Tate Modern. This allowed for a reading of the bodily movements, particularly in Turbine Hall, in terms of Scully's notion of Baroque architecture, in which the ‘order is absolutely firm, but against it an illusion of freedom is played." This relates the space to other institutional entrance halls that draw their identity from the staging of social relations and a level of user observation that is nothing short of a friendly panopticum.*” Tate Modem is therefore essentially an unmodem space. It seeks identification with the unregulated playfulness that the ramp of Turbine Hall suggests, thus concealing the fact that a firm order is in place. This extends to the thematic display of artworks, which connotes emancipation form the chronologic, institutional order and “The Unilever Series’ that produces ‘sensational events’ for the entertainment of the masses that happily participate in the ‘Tate Moder phenomenon’. The visual emphasis on St. Paul's Cathedral attests to Tate Modem’s ambiguous ideology that works connotations of squatting along with the absolutist vista of London’s famous landmark. ‘At Tate Modern the subject experiences an architecture that is susceptible to re-readings that are each inherent in the thing itself because the Turbine Hall and its relation to Boiler House * James Meyer, ‘No more scale. The experience of size in contemporary sculpture’, Artforum, 42, 10 (2004) p.228, as quoted by Woulter Davidts, ‘The Vast and the Void — On Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and “The Unilever Series” * Vincent Scully, Modern Architecture and Other Essays, p.10 45interact openly with the user. Uncritical readings that simply affirm the self-referential spectacle are herein particularly problematic because they pose a threat on the subject’s autonomy. Instead of providing a location that recedes to the background to serve the artworks, the architecture marginalizes them through its imposing spatiality. To maintain ‘one’s autonomy the architecture therefore has to be opposed to enable a meaningful encounter and confrontation with the artworks that should be central to a museum of art, ‘Nonetheless the ‘clash of orders’* that the encounters revealed, introduces an element of disorder to the experience that exists at the intersection of outer and inner orders, between concept and experience, Resulting from this is a tension between subject and object, user and architecture that due to the latent superiority of the built from over its function enables confrontations that in fact situate the element of architecture in Tate Modern in the realm of art. Finally I have to add that while the move away from the traditional use of phenomenology as an ideology of authenticism is profound in the analyses of Tate Modern that were conducted with the methodologies arrived at through the reading of Heidegger and Merleau- Ponty there is of course still a nearness to the general discourse of phenomenology in architecture through the themes that are set by the texts themselves. Location and boundaries, meaning and the reflection of being, situatedness and the perception of time remain central objectives albeit their legitimacy is no longer seen as confined to architectures that formally adhere to these ideas. (words: 11.975) ” See for example the Royal College of Physician’s entrance hall with its ceremonial staircase or the central atrium in the Reform Club. * Rudolf Amheim, Entropy and Art an Essay on Disorder and Order, p.2 46ALTER, Torin and WALTER, Steven (eds.) ARNHEIM, Rudolf BACHELARD, Gaston BERMAN, Marshall BLOOMER, Kent C. and MOORE, Charles W. BOLLNOW, Otto Friedrich BOURDIEU, Pierre DAVIDTS, Wouter DREYFUS, Hubert L. and WRATHALL, Mark A. FER, Briony, HUDEK, Antony, NIXON, Mignon, POTTS, Alex, STALLABRASS, Julian GAYFORD, Mark GLENDINNING, Simon BIBLIOGRAPHY Phenomenal Concepts and Phenomenal Knowledge — Essays on Consciousness and Physicalism, Oxford University Press, 2007 Entropy and Art ~ An Essay on Disorder and Order, University of California Press, 1971 The Poetics of Space, trans. Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, 1994 All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, Verso, 1993 Body, Memory and Architecture, Yale University Press, 1977 Mensch und Raum, Kohlhammer W., 2004 Distinction, trans. Richard Nice, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984 The Vast and the Void, On Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and ‘The Unilever Series’, in FOOTPRINT. Trans-disciplinary, Autumn 2007, pp. 77-92 A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, Blackwell, 2006 Round Table: Tate Modern, in OCTOBER 98, Fall 2001, pp. 3-25 A New Space for New Art, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 In the Name of Phenomenology, Routledge, 2007 On Being With Others, Heidegger ~ Derrida — Wiugenstein, Routledge, 1998HEIDEGGER, Martin HERZOG, Jacques STEINER, Dietmar HOLL, Steven, PALLASMAA, Juhani, PEREZ-GOMEZ, Alberto HOLDEN, John JACKSON, John Brinckerhoff LEACH, Neil (ed.) LEFEBVRE, Henri LESLIE, Esther LOUGHERY, John LYNCH, Kevin MACANN, Christopher MCDOWELL, John MCEWAN, lan Building Dwelling Thinking, in rethinking Architecture, ed. Neil Leach, Routledge, 1997 Being and Time, trans. John Macquarric & Edward Robinson, Blackwell, 1962 Basic Writings, edited by David Farrell Krell, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978 Sein und Zeit, Niemeyer, 2006 Tate Modern, London, in Domus, 828 (2000), pp.32- 44 Questions of Perception, Phenomenology of Architecture, a*u, July 1994, special issue The Cultural Value of Tate Modern, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 A Sense of Place a Sense of Time, Yale University Press, 1994 rethinking Architecture, Routledge, 1997 The Production of Space, trans. Donald Nicholson- ‘Smith, Blackwell, 2007 Tate Modern: A year of sweet success, in Radical Philosophy, Issue 109, September / October 2001 The Future of Museums: The Guggenheim, MoMA, and the Tate Modern, The Hudson Review, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Winter 2001), pp. 631-638 What Time is this Place, MALT. Press, 1972 Four Phenomenological Philosophers, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Pont Routledge, 1993 Mind and World, Harvard University Press, 1994 Saturday, Jonathan Cape, 2005 48MERLEAU-PONTY, Maurice MEYER, James MOORE, Rowan MOORE, Rowan and RYAN, Raymund MORAN, Dermot and EMBREE, Lester E. (eds.) MORAN, Dermot MORAN, Dermot and MOONEY, Timothy, (eds.) MORRIS, Robert MULDOON, Mark S. MULHALL, Steven NESBIT, Kate (ed.) NORBERG-SCHULZ, Christian Phenomenology of Perception, trans. C. Smith, Routledge, 1962 Primacy of Perception, ed. James M. Edie, Northwestern University Press, 1964 No more scale. The experience of size in contemporary sculpture, Artforum, 42, 10 (2004), pp. 220-228, as quoted by Wolter Davidts, The Vast and the Void — On Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and “The Unilever Series’, in FOOTPRINT Trans-disciplinary, Autumn 2007, pp. 77-92 Architecture in Motion, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 Building Tate Modern, Tate Gallery Publishing, 2000 Phenomenology ~ Critical Concepts in Philosophy, Routledge, 2004 Introduction to Phenomenology, Routledge, 2000 The Phenomenology Reader, Routledge, 2002 Size Matters, Critical Inquiry, 26, 3, Spring (2000), pp. 474-487, as quoted by Woulter Davids, The Vast and the Void - On Tate Modern's Turbine Hall and ‘The Unilever Series' in FOOTPRINT Trans-disciplinary, Autumn 2007, pp. 77-92 Tricks of Time: Bergson, Merleau-Ponty and Ricoeur in Search of Time, Self and Meaning, Duquesne University Press, 2006 Philosophy Guide Book to Heidegger and Being and Time, Routledge, 2005 Theorizing a new agenda for architecture, Princeton Architectural Press, 1996 Genius Loci, Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture, Academy Editions, 1980 49PALLASMAA, Juhani PICKLES, John POTTS, Alex PRIEST, Steven (ed.) SARTRE, Jean-Paul SCULLY, Vincent SEROTA, Nicholas SHARR, Adam SMITH, Chris SNOW, Jon TATE RECORDS TRAVERS, Tony TSCHUMI, Bernhard TUAN, Yi-Fu WARNOCK, Mary The eves of the skin, architecture and the senses, Wiley-Academy, 2008 Phenomenology, Science and Geography, Cambridge University Press, 1985 Sculptural Imagination — Figurative, Modernist, Minimalist, Yale University Press, 2000 Jean-Paul Sartre: Basic Writings, Routledge, 2001 Merleau-Ponty, Routledge, 2003 Being and Nothingness, trans. Hazel E. Barnes, Routledge, 2000 Modern Architecture and Other Essays, Princeton University Press, 2003 A New Landmark, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 Heidegger for Architects, Routledge, 2007 The Political Impact, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 Reaching Out, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 Final Competition Brief. 1G 124/2/1, 1G 12/4/22, TG 12/1/3/6, TG 12/4/5/91 Competition entry stage one, Herzog & de Meuron Renewing London, in Tate Modern: The First Five Years, Tate, 2005 Architecture and Disjunction, M.L.T. Press, 1997 Space and Place, University of Minnesota Press, 2001 Philosophy of Sartre, Hutchinson, 1965 50Existentialism, Oxford University Press, 1970 WHITFORD, Margaret Merleau-Ponty's Critique of Sartre's Philosophy, French Forum Publishers, 1982 WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig Philosophical Investigations, trans. G.E.M. Anscombe, Oxford: Blackwell, 1958 ZUMTHOR, Peter Thinking Architecture, Birkhiuser, second expanded edition WEBSITES hup://www tate org.uk/modern exhibitions/unilever.htm, accessed August 25, 2008 IMAGE CREDITS 00 Tate Moder at night, page 2 © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 01 Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao © PIXIstenz 02 Bankside Power Station prior to conversion © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 03 Model of the west court and ramp © Herzog & de Meuron 04 Proposal for the river elevation © Herzog & de Meuron 05 Model of Scott’s design © Riba Library 06 Competition entry site plan © Herzog & de Meuron 07 Turbine Hall as completed © Eirik Johan 08 Turbine Hall before floor removal © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 09 Turbine Hall after floor removal © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 5110 Boiler House before plant removal © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 11 Boiler House after plant removal © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 12 Turbine Hall © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 13 Vista of St. Paul’s Cathedral © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 14 Regular use © kpwerker 15 ‘Maman’ © 3x3=0 16 “Weather Project’ © coda 17 ‘Embankment’ © blond avenger 18 Shop at Tate Modem © Sandra Kreidel 19 Café at second level © Detlef Schobert 20 Millenium Bridge © ktylerconk 21 Tate Modern river elevation © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 22 West entrance to Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall © Sandra Kreidel 23 West entrance to Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall © Sandra Kreidel 24 Ramp and west entrance © Sandra Kreidel 25 Turbine Hall activities © Lewby, 26 Turbine Hall activities © Sandra Kreidel 27 Turbine Hall activities © Lewby 28 Ticket Counter © Sandra Kreidel 29 Stairs to bridge © Sandra Kreidel 30 Bridge in Turbine Hall © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 31 Industrial relicts © Sandra Kreidel 32 Escalators © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 33 Gallery foyer © Sandra Kreidel 34 Street level bypassing © Sandra Kreidel 35 Gallery at Boiler House © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography36 Gallery at Boiler House © Brianorl 37 Gallery at Boiler House © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 38 Turbine Hall © Margherita Spiluttini 39 Light box in Turbine Hall © dps 40 Stairs beside the ramp © klbw_ 41 Original structure in Turbine Hall © Sandra Kreidel 42 Factory stamps © Sandra Kreidel 43 Oak flooring in Galleries © Sandra Kreidel 44 Old and new materials © Sandra Kreidel 45 Trace of ‘Shibboleth andra Kreidel 46 Foyer with bay window to Turbine Hall © Marcus Leith, Tate Photography 47 Foyer in Boiler House view to escalators © Christopher Chan 48 Dwelling as mass event (flash mob) © chrisjohnbeckett 49 Dwelling as singular activity © davemason 50 ’Marsyas’ © Mindspigot 51 Turbine Hall © jasongoodger 52 Embankment’ © 770 53 Rolling © squacco 54 Jumping © whimsical chris 55 Running © chromwaves 56 Main concourse © Sandra Kreidel 57 Views from Boiler House into Turbine Hall © atomicShed 53