Passageways – The Power of the Threshold

Designer/Builder Dieuwertje von Aesch is passionate about passageways. She uses her design and furniture making skills to build unique gates and passageways for the out of doors. For example, her recent work, “Epiphany” (above) was installed in 2008 in the courtyard garden at St. John the Divine Anglican Church in Victoria, British Columbia.
Why focus on passageways? For her, structures of this type combine a passion for the out of doors with a love of good design. Doors and gates, entryways of all kinds, have significance both architecturally and spiritually. Why? The answer lies in an exploration of the threshold and the human desire to mark such an important transition place with a work that is unique and beautiful.
In sacred architecture gates are often an important stopping point. A place to reflect and honour the entrance into a place of worship. Sometimes a sacred building will have several gateways to reflect an understanding of the different stages of spiritual enlightenment.
To truly understand the significance of the entryway, it is helpful to place gates in a larger context. Rather than simply ask the question; why build a beautiful gate, perhaps first we should explore why do we build beautiful buildings at all? Why have religious organizations in every culture, placed an emphasis on sacred architecture? What is it about looking at a work of art that brings us happiness?
Alain de Botton in his book, The Architecture of Happines, explores the human psyche to determine why we are drawn to beautiful art and architecture and what it is about these objects that satisfy us in such a deep way. He states: "We value certain buildings for their ability to rebalance our misshapen natures and encourage emotions which our predominant commitments force us to sacrifice. Feelings of competitiveness, envy and aggression hardly need elaboration, but feelings of humility amid an immense and sublime universe, of a desire for calm at the onset of evening or of an aspiration for gravity and kindness - these form no correspondingly reliable part of our inner landscape, a rueful absence which may explain our wish to bind such emotions to the fabric of our homes".
Although our environment does not determine our identity, it can certainly help to shape it. The world’s greatest religions have placed a great deal of emphasis on the role of architecture in determining our identity and thus our behavior. While a sacred building does not guarantee spiritual enlightenment, its symbolic construction can remind us of the values we hold dear.
Alain de Botton asserts that buildings such as churches, mosques and synagogues have the effect of affirming sacred values.
"In danger of being corrupted by our passions and led astray by the commerce and chatter of our societies, we require places where the values outside of us encourage and enforce the aspirations within us. We may be nearer or farther from God on account of what is represented on the walls or ceilings. We need panels of gold and lapis, windows of coloured glass and gardens of immaculately raked gravel in order to stay true to the sincerest parts of ourselves."
Thresholds have great significance in sacred architecture. Crossing them can symbolize an important transition from the secular world to a spiritual space. In their book Sacred Architecture, Caroline Humphrey and Piers Vitebsky state;
"Gateways make the most elaborate and explicit statements about controlling who may or may not enter a sacred space. From the Christian cathedral door on which the archbishop must knock, to the house of the Indian Sora people where the shaman's assistants break down the door to bring in an ancestral name for the baby, to the gates of the monasteries of Mount Athos which are barricaded from dusk until dawn, gateways control the identity and the timing of those who would enter".
The degree to which this carries over to the home varies greatly in different parts of the world. In western secular society most of what would be deemed sacred architecture would be found in religious buildings such as mosques, synagogues or churches.
However, in other cultures the distinction between secular and sacred is blurred or non-existent. Humphrey and Vitebsky explain that in many parts of the world your dwelling is a visible manifestation of the right way to live your life and its construction and design may symbolize sacred values.In these cultures special attention is paid to the symbolism of the threshold as it denotes the entry from the outside world to the sanctuary of your home or garden.
Any threshold can be a passageway if its purpose is meaningful. Ideally, parts of it should speak to those entering it of values that they hold dear.  What it says might vary but the fact that it speaks is what these passageways hold in common. They create a pause, a moment of reflection, which makes passing through a significant act.
The passageway at St. John the Divine Anglican Church is a good example of this. Situated in a courtyard garden at the intersection of two paths, it invites the viewer to enter. The rafter design echoes features found in the neo-gothic architecture of the church building itself. But the unique curves in the two side panels and the use of clear cedar serve to soften the concrete and brick exterior of the church.
There are no gates to block your entrance. Looking up, you notice that there are five rafters in this small structure. This repetition serves to intensify the feeling of passage. Inside the structure there is a feeling of being held. Yet, the round portals encourage views of both the church building and the garden courtyard. There are no benches in this small structure. This passageway is about movement.
Ms. von Aesch works with both the people and the place to create structures that reflect their desires and values. She feels this passageway is a bridge from the busy outward world of Quadra Street to the inner space of the courtyard and the church itself. It makes you stop, slow down and pause: “Its curves are like water but at the same time it is firmly grounded in the earth. ...if people are pulled in from the street to walk through this, that is what I want.”

Dieuwertje also believes that there is far too much homogeneity in the world. Something as simple as a slight curve or a different thickness of wood on a structure can both draw the eye and feed the spirit. Every passageway that she creates, large or small, will reflect this. This is what makes her work so satisfying.

by Frances Sidhe, 250-889-2308 and dieufran@telus.net

Dieuwertje von Aesch is the Designer/Builder at Victoria Wood Studio at http://www.victoriawoodstudio.com