Transcience of Life
For her Master’s in Interior Architecture, Julia Elisabeth van Emmerik was given the assignment to design an intervention on the Sint Pietersberg in Maastricht. She developed a design that evolves with the seasons, symbolising the transience of life in a way that mirrors nature itself.
The result is an enclosed garden inspired by Japanese Zen gardens, with planting schemes based on seasonal growth. The exterior is constructed from wood, while the interior is charred black using the Japanese technique Shou Sugi Ban. Visitors move physically and mentally through the space, stepping from light into darkness, before returning to light as they enter a garden where blooming plants shift with the seasons.
This contrast between light and dark, interior and exterior, permanence and change, creates a spatial experience that invites contemplation and offers room for reflection.
