The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
Psychologically, the shadow is a positive or negative aspect of the
self that is unconscious and, therefore, is not under the control of
the ego. Given its elusive character and its profound capacity to
generate trouble, the shadow requires particularly careful reading.
This chapter sketches out the way our psychological shadow affects
the built world through its impact on the designer and how designers
can learn to bring their own shadow into the act of designing.
The shadow is deceptive; it is a master of disguise. Because it is
unacknowledged, it always seems to belong to others. We see it
everywhere, but can never find it because it actually belongs to our
own unconscious. The way we become aware of our shadow is
through a mechanism Jung called projection, an involuntary
psychic act whereby we cast our shadow onto others. This act is
always charged with energy and it is this energy we have the opportunity
to reclaim for our own lives through the therapeutic process
of “owning” the shadow. The direct way to discover our own
shadow is to notice what we find most annoying in others. Chances
are that the traits you find most irritating or overwhelming in
others point to your own shadow aspects. Keep in mind that our
projections usually involve judgments that have us see ourselves as
greater than others (inflation) or worse than others (deflation).
Neither position is actually true.
When we see others who appear successful or creative we may
be swept away by their opinions and forget our own talents because
we may have grown up never hearing that we were creative or
could be successful. By owning this example of positive projection
we can allow ourselves to connect with our repressed creativity and
begin to become more confident about our own abilities. Another
example might find us being judgmental whenever someone
around us becomes angry because we may have grown up in a
home where anger was forbidden and repressed our own anger.
Instead of then judging others, we need to get in touch with our
own repressed anger so that we can use its energy at appropriate
times and in appropriate ways.
Jung stated that we unconsciously project to the extent that we
have not consciously assimilated the shadow’s presence. Inevitably,
therefore, what we like least in ourselves we will unconsciously
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