The Object of Desire is a fictive structure made for the Maatwerk/Massarbeit (Made to Measure) exhibition in the Deutsches Architektur Museum in Frankfurt. The object invokes the idea of a simple tower of blocks, taking as its starting point the basic composition of plinth, shaft and crown. Quite apart from any functional determination, the object highlights ‘the climb upwards’, from the ground to the heavens.
The tower’s distinctive shape is created by three interlocking, shouldered volumes. The overall effect is one of entasis, achieved with an alternating length-width-height ratio of 1:2:3. To reinforce the reduction in gravitas, the curve of the window arches diminishes with height. After all, the round arched windows in the structure’s base facilitate the transfer of the heaviest load to the tower’s foundations.
The Object of Desire can be seen as an architectural exercise in stability and it assumes – independent of context – the colour of a purple evening sky.