THE NATURE OF CONTRADICTION
UTSOA | Program: Zen Retreat
Austin, Texas | Michael Benedikt | Spring 2012
“The conventional, relative world is necessarily a world of opposites. Light is inconceivable apart from darkness;
order is meaningless without disorder; and, likewise, up without down, sound without silence, pleasure without pain.”
--Alan Watts, The Way of Zen
On April 7th at approximately 8:00 am, I attended meditation at the Austin Zen Center. I found mediation to be harder than I expected. We began to claim our spots quietly as we entered the room. Facing inward towards the wall was common, although I felt compressed since I was sitting about one foot away from the wall due to the limited space. Distractions were inevitable; sounds of cats meowing outside the window, creaking in the floorboards from stragglers walking in, cars driving by, the sound of the AC turning on due to the rise in body temperature, and not to mention the heavy-breathing individual next to me. The proximity of the individuals in an already crowded room made me feel uncomfortable. Knowing I came there to experience meditation in order to understand the scope of this studio project, I knew I had to let go of all the distractions and just let them pass by me. I realized that in the end, perceptually, I had to bring myself back to the room and finally came to terms with the fact that I was “sitting there just to sit.” As I began to finally relax, I noticed my relationship to the space itself and to the individuals around me as a field condition. I drew inspiration from my experience; factors such as human scale and proportion, orientation to natural elements of the site, and maximizing comfort while alleviating distractions would play primary roles in the construction of the Zen retreat.
Site Plan
Section
Zendo Perspective
Doctrine of Relativity
According to Stcherbatsk, a Russian scholar of Oriental Studies, the Doctrine of Relativity “states that all things are without ‘self-nature,’ or independent reality since they exist only in relation to other things. Nothing in the universe can stand by itself- no thing, no fact, no being, no event – and for this reason is it absurd to single anything out as the ideal to be grasped. For what is singled out exists only in relation to its own opposite, since what is defined by what is not, pleasure is defined by pain, life is defined by death and motion is defined by stillness.” Commonly in architecture, we begin to map such polarities such as [public : private], [solid : void], [light : shade], [served : servant], [field condition : poche], [interior : exterior], [opaque : transparent], etc., serve as reminders that we need french fries with our ice cream in order to achieve harmony and balance generally in life. These dualities and polarities played significant roles in deriving the plan of the Zen Retreat while also incorporating my experience from the Austin Zen Center
Zendo Entry Sequence
The Art of Meditation
Incorporating my experience at the Austin Zen Center became vital in developing not only the form of the Zendo, but also defining the experience one would have during meditation. The Zendo should lend itself to the meditator--maximizing comfort and alleviating distractions. Therefore, the repetitive wooden structure essentially became the boundary between each meditator. The white wooden floors should lead the inhabitant’s eye out to the centerpiece of Buddha, juxtaposed with a rich wooden dark palette above. The wall that extends slightly over the meditator’s head serves to limit distraction from outside views. Furthermore, the Zendo sits in a pool of water, in order to facilitate meditation. Water is not only at eye level but is pumped above, led through a channel, and disperses at the end, creating a backdrop for Buddha. The sound of water alleviates any auditory distractions and is a primary element during meditation.