The Human in Captivity

"... In the Middle Ages there was a hierarchic ensemble of places: sacred places and profane places; protected places and open, exposed places ... It was this complete hierarchy, this opposition, this intersection of places that constituted what could be very roughly be called medieval space: the space of emplacement" (Of Other Spaces, Foucault 22).
The Cloisters, a division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Fort Tryon Park, poses an interesting juxtaposition--a roughly hewn building of stone nestled in the midst of an open and organic natural space. This arrangement brings to mind the true cloisters of medieval times. By definition, a cloister refers to an architectural feature. It is literally an open aired walkway around an interior quadrangle, many times occupied by a garden. Historically, however, these cloisters were used often in monasteries and convents where the religious inhabitants were secluded from the outside world. …