What does it feel like to be seen but never reached?

Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities

describes Chloe as a city where

strangers pass one another in silence

Its spatial interpretation evokes a

sense of restriction, refuge, wonder

and confinement.

Chloe is a city where strangers pass on

every street, but no one ever speaks or

touches, but every glance carries the full

weight of a relationship that will never

happen. People pass each other for a

single second and, in that instant, fall in

love, argue, share a whole imagined life,

and then walk on, forever altered by

someone whose name they will never

know.

When I started thinking about the

spatial manifestation of Chloe, I was

inspired by the Van Nellefabriek, where

the staircases were originally designed

to separate male and female staff within

a shared entrance. In my initial sketch,

this appears as crossing elements

hinting at proximity without encounter.

From there, I developed a labyrinth of

perpendicular and crossing elements

that never truly intersect. The sharp,

angular edges throughout the piece act

as barriers: they restrict, redirect and cut

off potential paths, yet the cage they

form can also be read as a kind of

shelter.

The structure is organised around the

head, emphasising the heightened

visual experience of the city. I wanted to

materialise a cage that evokes

restriction, refuge, wonder and

confinement all at once. The eyes are

framed by the structure; the hatching

adds density, narrowing and directing

your gaze. There is no front or back:

every position offers a new framing of

your view, guiding potential pathways

that you sense but from which you

remain deliberately restrained.

Van Nellefabriek