Mapping the Conflict of Perception
This project investigates the ambiguity of spatial experience encountered while walking along the riverbanks of Charleroi, focusing on the tension between physical reality and subjective perception. Through a comparative video study—one capturing a stabilized recording of the riverbank facades and the other documenting my dynamic movements during the walk—I observed how architectural forms become visually distorted in motion, transforming complex, irregular structures into seemingly continuous linear shapes. This phenomenon reveals a conflict between the static reality of architectural forms and the fluid, shifting nature of human perception.
The project further explores this perceptual complexity by examining two contrasting spatial conditions along the river: the convex-curved metro station, where space feels expansive and stretched, and the concave-curved abandoned railway, where space feels compressed and confined. These opposing sensations emphasize the contradiction between how space is physically structured and how it is perceived during movement. To materialize this tension, I extracted the architectural forms from both locations and fluidly merged them along my walking path, creating hybrid representations that blend the objective architectural reality with my subjective experience.
A key focus of this exploration is the overlapping, or intersection, of these hybrid forms, where architectural complexity intensifies, generating areas of visual and spatial conflict. To deepen this analysis, I introduced time as a factor, using collages to depict how the buildings have transformed across different historical periods and how variations in light and shadow alter spatial perception throughout the day.
By revealing the contradictions between physical space and human perception, this research challenges conventional understandings of architectural representation, aiming to uncover the dynamic and multifaceted nature of spatial complexity.
