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Architecture & design studio  
in New York led by Sasha Topolnytska.

Sublime

Finalist in Ragdale Ring Competition
Ragdale, Illinois, USA
2023

Architecture installation design Sublime ruminates on the significance of time and imagines a landscape of scattered ruins in the original garden of Ragdale Ring. Ruins have always been associated with the occult and dreams, reminding us of times of enlightenment and repositories of lost knowledge. They are places where time slips away, and one can get lost in intimate, mysterious spaces shaped by objects from ‘other’ times.

Scattered in the landscape of the original Ragdale Ring, the broken parts of Sublime require our imagination to put them back together by opening the door to mysterious and curious spatial scenarios. Standing arches touch the platforms that also look like fallen arches, creating a feeling of continuity and intimacy, blurring the line between spaces for performers and audience. As audience members sit on the platforms between the arches, they become performers, suspended between past and present, between reality and imagination. Performers are encouraged to move away from the stage to dance around and on the platforms, enhancing the occult and dream-like quality of the space.

The standing arches resemble monolithic gates, inviting visitors to walk under them to enter the intimate space of the Sublime. As in any classical painting of architectural ruins, plants appear to be gradually taking over the arches, growing from incorporated planters on top of them. The lower platforms offer different heights and types of seating, suggesting diverse ways to occupy and use the space. Colorful stucco finishes create a whimsical and decorative relationship with the existing landscape.