E m e l i e A k t a n i u s F r a n z o n
UMEÅ SCHOOL OF
ARCHITECTURE
The manuscript for the slideshow
1
2 Do you believe that you can strengthen your attention by focusing repeatedly on one thing moment by moment? 3 By directing this strengthened attention inwards, could you realize anything about the nature of your own mind? 4 Could you then realize things that weren’t available for you to realize without this strengthened attention? 5 Hi my name is Emelie Aktanius and I want to ask you are you the director of your attention?
6 I first tried to understand Umeå as a hole and the biggest employers, the university, the large living- and consumption-areas where surrounding the citycenter, and the city acted a transitioning space, daily, in almost every pace. I went there to understand the pedestrian way of inhabiting the city.
7 The transitioning was as evident here as in the bigger scale, especially by Rådhustorget. Which is the site that I chose for my project. 18 interviews described an attention towards an upcoming goal or destination and I realized that the in-between walking weren’t a part of the experience for these users. But from a single cell organism, 7 billion years ago.
8 They are now walking here, surrounded by the world, having a conscious life to live, and as far as we know, this is the only life they get, and it will never come again.
9 Therefor my project will try to help the users to relate to the present moment by 5 fragments.
10 During my investigations of how Japanese architectural strategies activates the mind, the aim for my project was developed, to shape spaces that activates awareness. The challenge is to not direct the attention in another direction, but to put the attention on the attention itself.
11 The first strategy, to merge the body with space. Exposes the body to changing conditions and interrupts the existing stories in the mind of the user, for a second, to enable self-observation.
12 The first fragment is embracing the existing tries of making the city into something to enjoy inbetween purposes. and the green areas along Rådhusesplanaden, would be
13 curated as sheltered paths to be used all year around in our winter land, the glass walls and plants will divide the user from the regular pace and distractions in the city. Added pedestrian crosswalks will connect the paths.
14 The second fragment, is placed on the most used pedestrian street, Kungsgatan. By changing light conditions the user can become aware of the effect that the light conditions in the north can have on us if we aren’t paying attention.
15 Thirdly I have added a completely new path, connecting the user to Vasaplan, the busterminal that connects Umeå in one spot. Elevators extended from the facade of The mall, Utopia on the north or west side, takes you down to the
16 Concrete arched labyrinth, it is simple, but with small confusions. Some openings are curated with windows or mirrors, to challenge the mind of the user. An active mind can easily enjoy a walk through this path in the same time as if rushing around the building to only get to the next destination.
17 The fourth fragment includes an elevator and 450 meters long ramp to the fifth fragment underground.
18 They are mirrored on walls and roof, to shape a transitioning of self-reflection both physically and mentally, to prepare the mind and set the focus on oneself.
19 The fifth fragment, a space curated as a moment of nothing. Is a space, for the people who wants to start their work on understanding their own minds. I will come back to this fragment later.
20 But all these paths shapes a square of entrances above ground, It is slightly interrupting but not breaking the normal paths of the user. The regular paths shapes its own openings because of the curated openings. It shapes possibility for people to make more active choices. 21 The square is added with an extra awareness-function. 4 camouflaged mines, with size and materiality similar to an A-well, creates sounds from meditation bowls underneath the surface, when stepped on.
22 The idea is that not everyone will walk on them but some might, and some might jump over them(because of superstition-bad-luck). But whenever it is used or jumped over, it can shape an added awareness to the space surrounding them.
23 But why do I feel that this is so god damn important? I will now lead you through my research about the brain. 24 Awareness is the experiencing in life. It is how you experience being yourself in your surrounding moment by moment.
25 But of all the possible things you can be aware of in the moment, it is something that always takes the spotlight. 26 Attention is that directing spotlight. Attention is the focus in the open field of awareness.
27 Attention is something that we have all the time, but it seems to be constrained to the experience of a thought or emotion that we have in the moment. We have a feeling that we are our thoughts and therefor as soon as something arises in the mind, we have an urge to strive towards what´s pleasant and pushing away what´s not.
28 But the attention is directed towards what seems more important at the moment and our values can therefor change due to the circumstance that we are in. And instead of acting in our environment, we react.
29 Meanwhile we habitually direct our attention towards so many things that we hope will contribute to our wellbeing, that we don’t have time to see that we are directing the attention in the completely wrong direction. Wellbeing isn’t the effect from any outer condition, it is a state of mind.
30 Our minds are the space where our life’s are played out. And that means that the only thing we could possibly have control over, is how we respond to the situations that occur in our lives.
31 Imagine that you would die,
32 to loose everything to then be restored to this exact moment, can you see how that changes the relation to the situation you’re now in?
33 Death can make us more aware of what we do with our time, but even if including all other reason why something could occur for the last time, we would almost never know when a last time might be. But if knowing that your moments in life are finite, wouldn´t you want to give them all your full attention?
34 So what am I trying to say,
we have habits so strong that we don’t even notice them, that decides what matters for us most, almost every second. 35By knowing this, we are able to (by hard work), see those habits.
36To make us the director of our attention, to not loose more moments to a momentary reactive mind.
37 The project will be created by the municipality and it acts as a statement, “We appreciate what you are doing so much, but don’t forget the life you are living, your wellbeing matters more for us than your accomplishments.”
38 I am in my project caring about one users individual experience. And the project itself has one direct goal,
39 a city full of active and caring minds. But it also has a long-term goal, the goal of presence that we carry with us home, with ourselves and to the people we care about most.
40 So for my second strategy, which is to make our minds the space I am now back to the fifth fragment. It is here by exposing awareness to only itself, the user could with hard work observe and realise the nature of the own mind.
41 This part is curated to shut out as many influences as it can without distracting the mind with others. The created light-reflection through the holes in the concrete structure takes away stress about time but exists also to not adding fear in this otherwise dark place. The sound will be completely filtered away by the placement underground and the thick walls and roof.
42 This is the space where the hard work of trying to only change the circumstances that we are in stops and the even harder work to find the true source of wellbeing begins.
43 My project can always question but it can’t make everyone agree, but to question means to think,
44 and that is the purpose with my project, to ask ourselves if our habits is guided by our values, or if it is left to the circumstance. 45 Describing the process,
THANK YOU!!
I would also like to say a big thanks to Anton Henriksson and Sam Harris who made this path accessible for me, for that I am truly incredibly grateful.
