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within which we can stride, where the field of vision can ex-
pand. The diversity of open space, conversely, generates a de-
sire for a space within which we can come to ourselves, can
fully concentrate.Actually, the cellar is an impertinence. It seems to contradict
that which we customarily expect from architectural struc-
tures. As a pure > inside, it is the place where the difference
between outer and inner that is so fundamental for architec-
ture collapses. Surrounded by the earth, the cellar is not ac-
cessed at ground level, but instead via a steep set of stairs.
This circumstance also accords the cellar a fundamental role
in anchoring the building into the earth (as expressed by the
English word basement), reinforcing its stability and immov-
ability while endowing it with an earthy side (> base). Gaston
Bachelard refers to the vertical polarity of the house between
roof and cellar: the rationality of the roof, its comprehensible
form and construction, is opposed by the cellar, with its ir-
rational side, as the ‘dark essence of the house’. One climbs
up to the attic, whereas one descends downward into the cel-
lar, summoning associations with the heavens and the under-
world.
Alongside the darkness, combated by means of artificial
light or light shafts, and the sense of quiet produced by the
far-reaching acoustic screening, we sense a direct proximity
to the earth by virtue of a cool, moist, often musty or mouldy
atmosphere. Our senses are sharpened by the quiet and the
> darkness; we are acutely aware of shadows and sounds, and
the cellar acquires an aura of mystery. Our sense of fantasy
is aroused by the inscrutability of subterranean passageways,
which may proliferate to encompass entire cities.
Because it lies below ground level, and hence has no out-
side, the cellar may engender claustrophobic atmospheres.
There, since contact with the outside world is cut off, and the
only escape to the outside lies above, the individual is thrownCellar