Most architecture has a more or less utilitarian function (but good architecture always transcends a narrow strictly serving role!). There are also genres of architecture though, where practical utility is not even at the center stage, to begin with:
The first one is the folly: an architectural work of art; an expression of spatial, material and formal play, with its own rules. Follies don’t serve a practical purpose; they are free from utilitarian notions of function. Follies might have minor casual uses such as viewpoint or meeting points in public spaces, but nothing that resembles the design brief of e.g. housing, offices, and museums. They are festive exercises in architectural playfulness and pleasure.
The other genre is that of the sacral. Traditionally a place for the gods or spiritual experiences. Here too, practical functions are subordinate to non-utilitarian functions such as providing the conditions for awe, silence and contemplation, light and enlightenment, positive disintegration, and inner experience.
What can be found in these worlds? How do they work (on us)? How to create a folly? How to create the sacral? And what do these excursions to outward positions tell us about central-stage functional design?

Tutors: ir. Hajo Schilperoort (architect), ir. Narindath Maraj