Icelandic Geometry

"To say that space is just physical
or geometrical is the same thing
as saying that the human being simple.
And both statements are false.
...
The imaginary is not formed in
opposition to the real, it is
not opposed to common sense,
it is not situated on another plane,
it is situated simultaneously on
all the planes of the real.

The real is always in movement,
it is always changing, always
becoming different-from itself.

Man is separated from the great
whole only because he consists of the
same substance as the whole,
which guarantees the union, a
substance which is doubtless more
substantial for being more rare."

- Gaston Bachelard (1884 - 1962)

A Mere Door

"How concrete everything
becomes in the world of
the spirit when an object,
a mere door, can give
images of hesitation, temptation,
desire, security, welcome
and respect. If one
were to give an account
of all the doors one has
closed and opened,
of all the doors one
would like to re-open,
one would have to tell the
story of one's entire life."

- Gaston Bachelard (1884 - 1962)
The Poetics of Space

Poetics of Space

"House, patch of meadow, oh evening light

Suddenly you acquire an almost human face

You are very near us,

embracing and embraced."

- RAINER MARIA RILKE

"Our house is our corner of the universe... it is our universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the word. If we look at it intimately, the humblest dwelling has beauty... The house, like fire and water...[recalls]... flashes of daydreams that illuminate the synthesis of immemorial and recollected... Through dreams, the various dwelling-places in our lives co-penetrate and retain the treasure of former days... We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection... The house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace... The places in which we have experienced daydreaming reconstitute themselves in a new daydream, and it is because our memories of former dwelling-places are relived as daydreams that these dwelling-places of the past remain in us for all time."

- GASTON BACHELARD

The Poetics of Space