Modern person living in a metropolis like Moscow, London, New York is hard to cope with speed of the city, with all stresses connected with necessity to do a lot of things in one time. Sometimes people forget about their feelings because they have a lot of commitments, they think about their families, parents, friends, colleagues and never think about themselves.
This design proposal attempts to create a space where a person can forget his or her everyday problems and dive into himself to feel the feelings deep down. The path of a man inward is the path of meditation. Meditation is something very individual, even intimate, nobody wants to do it in public. While meditating you prefer to be alone with yourself, that’s why most of the spaces are weakly lit. The light should not interfere, should not emphasize how many people are in the room. The darkness should be felt like embracing, leaving each visitor alone with himself. However, complete darkness may lead to fear and even claustrophobia, therefore, in every hall there are light spots, stripes that accompany a person everywhere, not allowing him or her to go astray.
Entering the museum, you are going through some arches. Moving forward you lose sight of the entrance and stop hearing the noise of the street. Then you find yourself in an entrance hall. This place is completely different from the usual interior. Outer walls are dotted with small cutouts, interior walls seem to be floating. Everything is in a little twilight that’s why silhouettes of people are vague, they are like shadows.
Your path through the museum is starting in a hall with arches and mirrors. That’s why this space seems endless. Such a space allows you to "lose yourself" on the one hand, and on the other hand to look at yourself differently. In the corridor leading to the next hall, water flows along the walls. The sound of water gurgling is one of the most soothing sounds in the world. In addition, the glare of water on the walls will create bizarre patterns.
Next hall is the sand hall. Sand symbolizes the endless flow of time. One of the walls is transparent. The sand lies behind the wall, it is gradually moving with the help of artificially created wind. A person can stay in this hall if he or she likes. Part of the floor is sand; you can take off your shoes and meditate on it.
Various paintings can be created on the walls in the next room with the help of a projector and other equipment. These paintings immerse in space, under water or in other universes.
Next hall is called Temple Hall. It resembles a temple hall but instead of a religious symbol it has a monument with a vertical light strip. A person can turn to himself, to the Universe or to God in such a place.
There are two exits from the Temple Hall. After leaving the "Temple Hall" a person will get into one of the Water halls. You will have to walk almost on water. A narrow winding path is almost the same level as the water. This hall will allow you to move to the other side, finally leaving all the problems behind.
The next hall is very small, but very high. Thanks to the glass roof the sky can be seen through it.
In the next hall guests of the museum can find small nooks where they can be alone with themselves.
The Meditation hall can be passed by or you can stop and linger in it. Before entering the hall, people should take off their shoes to keep the soft carpet in the hall. This is the last room where you can linger. You can just lie there, look up at the ceiling, dotted with various light patterns, and think, feel.
The last hall is lighter than the previous ones. This allows you to recover a little and adapt to the light.
When you leave the last hall you find yourself in the new foyer. It is not the same room which you entered when you came into the museum. The idea is to show the change that has occurred in a person, he will no longer be the same as he entered the museum.
In addition, for people who want to get acquainted with the history of the influence of the interior on a person, there are second and third floors. There are permanent and temporary exhibitions dedicated to the history of the influence of architecture on man. On the 2nd level there is also a lecture hall and an exhibition of works by contemporary artists dedicated to light.
This museum is in St. Petersburg, but I'm sure there should be such a place in every megalopolis in the world. A minimalistic facade should be built into a narrow gap between two historical buildings. The facade will strongly contrast with them and attract attention.