In this journal I would like to discuss an experience of
liminality that I found to be rather interesting. Liminality as we all know is a sense of being
between places, on the threshold as it would be. One common example of architecture that exemplifies
liminality are the arches common in the Shinto religion of Japan. These arches, as I understand them, are used
as gateways between the real world and the spirit world through which people
may pass through and pray to the spirits or kames of certain landscapes and
spirits may pass into the real world. The
arch that I would like to talk about today is erected outside the National
Botanical Gardens in Washington D.C. standing bright and red against a pale
grey landscape. Although this landscape is
far from natural the arch represents a threshold as you pass under it. You are venturing from the dead world of the
city, a maze of granite and marble buildings full of offices and suits into a
world of green plants from across the world protected within the greenhouse. It truly is a different world that so many
people pass idly by without so much as a second glance and frankly it is one of
the most beautiful places in the city and a refreshing reprieve from the mover
and shaker mentality of the city.
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