“We put everything in relation to ourselves”
When reading the description of this project, one can’t help but imagine Utzon entering the Jeita grotto for the very first time. Knowingly that the space was inhabited in prehistoric times, he places the visitor in the darkness of the cave, approaching a dying bonfire.
Utzon, through his architecture, is able to invoke our most visceral feelings. The cave and the call to congregation represent an atavistic ritual which makes us human. Through this resource, he is able with his architecture to transcend cultural and language barriers.
Additionally, the project is impregnated with a high dose of drama in its approach. The experience of entering Jeita is divided in three parts as if it were a fable or legend. Mirroring this storytelling structure, the animation tells a short story about a concert in the cave. This provides a tool to make an accessible approach to architecture.
The film starts with an explosion and a roaring fire. Then, almost like an ancestral monster, we first see the crown-shaped metallic structure sizzling like a flame. Its perfectly defined geometry and its light and rectilinear nature, contrast with the curves of the cave. There is a contraposition of the stereotomic character of the cave to the tectonic aspects of the crown, reinforcing the structure’s abstract image.
Then, we’re transported to the path in the cave in modern times, we’re almost in the dark surpassing any possible relation to the surroundings, being annihilated. The camera flies over the pathway allowing us to live the experience in first person. We see just a few lights on our way, the cave illuminated almost like a fantasy world, just enough to be able to see. In the background, the metallic structure appears. Illuminated, titillating, pulling us closer. After being seated the lights go completely off. Just for a moment. Suddenly, in a highly dramatic almost blinding action, one after the other, the white spotlights light up the circular stage where the artists are about to start the performance. The camera then shows us the stage from different perspectives, flying around the structure to show how it is inserted in the cave
It is only after the show comes to an end that both the cave and the structure are lit up completely, accentuating their contrasting characters. We can finally grasp the scale of the grotto, by putting ourselves in relation to this amorphous space and understanding the weight of the ancient rock.
With this animation I wanted to immerse the viewer in Jeita and make them live the project as envisioned and described by Utzon. This way, the most well versed viewer as well as the least knowledgeable will be able to easily understand and connect with Utzon’s architecture and its innermost being.
التاج المشتعل
