There are multiple reasons to visit the Somerset House in Strand. Whether that be for the art and technology teams, the King's College London, the Gallery or the restaurants and bars. What stuck out to me was the peace I was overcome with what was embedded into the structure itself; I wouldn't be surprised if people go there just to meditate.
So, let me tell you what went through my mind in my first impression.
I think I entered into peace itself. The silence. The white nothingness. There's no stimulation whatsoever. There's no entertainment but no judgment either. All your worries no longer matter, everything has been stripped clean. No need to be happy; no need to be sad because there is literally nothing there. Lie down and stare up at the blank slate but you can't bring yourself to think. You're just there being with yourself and life. The place is true serenity: nothing matters in that moment other than being in the realms of the building surrounding you. You're enclosed here, and you're safe, protected from the extremities of the city outside.
There was life when I went with my friend, but it was quiet. The kind of life that lives each day continuously. Like the ticking of the clock, it just doesn't stop, nor does it speed up or slow down. It's a comfortable repetition that does not interrupt you, it just simply exists. The people sitting outside drinking their coffee or wine sit with content on their phone or working on heir laptop, minding their own business and enjoying it.
If you investigate further along the sides, your mind might conjure up an image of school kids playing around and climbing on the walls in the mid-20th century, like the boys from The Chorus by Christophe Barratier. They have been set free from to confines of the classroom and they are out, wired, to make mischief. It's finally break time and now they can do whatever they want for 20 minutes, even though they're still within the 4 walls of the Somerset House. Each one of those kids could not care less about being at school, no matter who they are; no matter whether they like learning. The regular citizens drinking at the café won't know what hit them and I don't blame them. They're going to end up involuntarily becoming part of the school until break time is over: 20 minutes of their life being taken away from their day.
Or your mind might lean more towards imagining the 4 walls themselves crumbling down. It comes down like a beautiful, slow-motion waterfall of white rocks with grey fireworks erupting as they collide with the ground. And paradise falls. A daytime spectacle. Outside of this mesmerising show of the elements, you realise that the citizens of Somerset House are running whichever way possible, frantic and aimless like frightened deer. What were once composed professionals are now wild, blind creatures trying to escape being crushed. The chaos is about the only interruption of colour in motionless, calm paradise. At the end, most managed to get out, whilst I stayed here to watch and it now looks like I'm trapped here with the entrance completely blocked by rubble. The structure has completely changed but it's silent again now. I am still kept safe by 3 walls and a deformed one. This huge change has happened but it just accepts it. I am still encompassed in nothingness.
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