Plattegrond van Dieppe 1657

This is an anonymous map of Dieppe, rendered with ink and watercolor. Note the fortified nature of the town. Walls jut out, shielding the city from maritime threats, a motif as old as civilization itself. Consider the walls of Jericho or Troy, and the Great Wall of China—all symbols of a collective need for protection. These imposing fortifications tap into a deep, subconscious desire for safety, a primal urge manifested in stone and mortar. The need to safeguard a community, a desire that is part of the human psyche and is repeated over time and space. Notice how, even today, we speak of 'walls' in metaphorical terms—financial firewalls, emotional barriers. These modern 'walls' echo the same desire to safeguard, revealing that the primal human drive for protection is continually repeated, re-emerging in ever-new forms.