Pt. I: The Next Dimension

“Paper Brick”

A two-dimensional plane moves vertically and horizontally to form a three-dimensional space recognizable as a brick. This brick is a physical manifestation of how our brains see and understand the world. The third dimension, here the brick, is but an organization of lines in space. And so is the world around us.

This material is most comfortable as a 2D plane. Any direction, any movement by my hand was met with resistance, however weak, by the very nature of the material itself. As if afraid changing its form would meddle with its essence. Little does the material know, it is nothing until it forms.

This material is a teacher and I am its student. It has its own rules which I had to figure out and abide by, or else it would cut me. It’s greatest weapon, the edge, is also its limitation.

The material usage is defined by the distance of its edges. The material dislikes it.

I struggled with its limitation to form the brick, too. Material and Architect wish for it to have no edges, no limitations and to be infinite so that all fantastical ideas can fit onto it.

Of course, it is scary to have no overview of where I (the material) begin or end. But isn’t it so much better when I am as vast and infinite as the Mind?

The fourth dimension is the perception of the stillness of time in moving space. When “lines in space” become vectors (value moving directionally) in time, “organization” becomes fluid and perception changes, losing structural integrity (which architects are most concerned with, weirdly).

 

 

 18.02.2026 for the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design Semester 10 Elective Course The Material Phenomena