Never-never Land
Ashutosh Sharma
Never-never land is the re-interpretation of the notion of sacred in interior design. It concludes by initiating a conversation about looking at sacred spaces from a non-identical perspective. Instead of focusing on or asking what sacrality is, never-never land investigates the politics of sacrality, in the chosen context. The future focuses on the politics of sacred space, a space open for individual and collective interpretation and not confined by the boundaries of religion. Looking at today’s scenarios, this thesis postulates that 70% of the world population will be atheists by the year 2070. Never-never land will act as a confined place of finality, for people not associated with any or every religion.
The concept of creating a monument in the landscape, exploring sacrality by making a journey, and imagining the project as a place of final destination. A sense of finality is what we feel after we have achieved something, majorly associated with completing a monumental task. This project aims to achieve a similar feeling, where people will use religion as a sense of only mental escape in the coming future.
Sacred architecture has always existed. The concept of sacred space has long been synonymous with mythological or religious spaces. No longer is this solely the case, with a much-expanded notion of the sacred, and an evolution in the areas of religion and spirituality, the idea of sacred space has come to surround a multitude of ideas. The manifestation of sacred space is widespread – religious and secular, individualistic and collective, and rational and atmospheric. Program alone no longer dictates the sacred quality of a space.
Never-never Land aims to reinterpret the notion of sacred space and explore interior’s role in the creation of sacred space. Stripped of the religious connotations of the sacred, this Never-never Land creates a space that balances between the individual and the collective, fosters both introspective reflection and extrospective contemplation, and proposes interiors for the experiencing of the sacred.
Dun Carloway, one of the existing Broch’s is Scotland has been chosen as a site for this project. The idea of being a mountain site, residing in a landscape of radical nature, emulating the idea where nothing exists and practically everything can happen. A space of natural nostalgia, a site with an important history and past associated with it. Dun Carloway resides in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
The interpretation is based on a religious vocabulary of elements. The attempt is to create a language of design, which when replicated to spaces like these, can then be ingrained in the people in coming times, just like other conventional sacred notions. The ideas and thoughts brought to this thesis are meant to be transferable. Other similar structures can replicate the same process and activate the zone.
The final outcome starts from a journey the user takes to reach never-never land. The project then becomes obligated to serve the human-spirit and connects with the user emotionally then-and there before the user even reaches the actual site. This project acts as a catalyst to initiating a non-conventional conversation on sacred design.
