The Sublime

Abstract: In our everyday life we live distant from the origin of life itself - nature. Dramatic landscape and fascinating views touch us in a way that few other things manage to do. It is something that make us recognize our powerlessness and the feeling of awe towards the nature. Experiencing striking nature is a way to create a deeper understanding of our own world and at the same time enrich our lives with strong emotions. The sublime is a philosophical phenomena, developed by the philosophers Immanuel Kant and Edward Burke during the 18th century. The theory explains the kind of unique experience one feels when facing nature’s might, certain kind of art or overwhelming architecture. The sublime is an emotion of pleasure, that is connected to, and only possible, when you at the same time experience displeasure (which in this case is fear or terror). To be able to experience the sublime, (which is the strongest emotion that the mind is capable of feeling, according to Burke) one have to feel that one is at safe distance, with no risk of destruction. This project investigates how architecture can contribute to the sublime experience of a unique natural landscape. The proposal site is the Nyiragongo volcano, located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the DRC. Tourists from all over the world cross the border from on a daily basis from Rwanda to visit Virunga national park and to climb Nyiragongo. From the rim of the volcano, visitors can look down into a lava lake and hear gases exploding and see a mosaic of molten lava. The tourist industry is an important economic engine that encourage the maintenance of safety in the region. This project investigates how architecture contribute to increase the status - highlighting the very uniqueness of Nyiragongo and Virunga national park in eastern DRC and how this can be done within the guide-lines of Eco-tourism.