Architectural design: Andrew MacNair
The egg is the archetype of generative space. It is the nurturing environment in which an embryo turns into a chick. But, in nature, this is a one-of-a-kind experience. The chick has to break the egg to go into the world.
I am inspired by architect Andrew MacNair’s design of an egg-shaped building: this egg has a door! We can come and go into it as we please.
The egg building exists in ordinary reality: MacNair built one in Korea. But, even more meaningful to me, it is a powerful metaphor for the kind of inner space I love.
It is a space of mind, the mindspace of pausing. The moment when we have a chance to step out of mindlessly doing what we’re doing and allow something fresh to emerge.
New ideas. New perspectives. A different take on what we are doing. A different direction altogether. Or, maybe, doing the same thing, but it is now imbued with a new meaning.
This egg is now a creative space.
This is also the space for thinking in a contemplative way. Staying with ideas as if we were watching a show. Staying with the flow of thinking in an embodied way, connected with what we feel and sense and not just what we think.
The process takes on another layer when we do this in a group. The shared field emerges from the intermingling of what we personally experience and what we absorb from the shared experiences of others. For instance, this is the space of Meditation in Connection.