Doorsnede van een gebouw over de lengte c. 1864

Willem Springer Jr. made this architectural cross-section with ink on paper. The drawing depicts the framework of a building, revealing the structure of its many rooms and passages. Notice the prominence of windows, each a small, self-contained world within the larger structure. Windows, throughout art history, have functioned as potent symbols of perception and knowledge, like the ‘divine eye’, suggesting the divine sees everything. The design reflects a desire to establish order and control over the inhabited world. It is similar to Renaissance paintings where architectural elements are often used to frame or compartmentalize space, reflecting a period-wide fascination with order and symmetry. Look at how this architectural blueprint is an attempt to order, to control, to understand life. It is the human mind trying to make sense of a world that is too confusing and too emotional. What does this remind us of? Perhaps the eternal struggle to find meaning, to leave our mark, to create a sense of order and purpose in the grand, chaotic sprawl of existence.