”Bi-Valency is a formal condition where an element or a relationship between elements has two notations, marks, or weightings of relative equivalence. A conceptual bi-valence is one which is in the relationship between elements rather than in the element itself.” (Eisenman, p. 37).
When moving from the perimeter of the site towards the center of the memorial, a change in depth is experienced. This change in depth is actually due to both the steles rising above a datum roughly coincidental with the surrounding streets and the ground sinking below this datum. As one progresses further towards the center, one is unable to correctly reference the original datum and one is only capable of either reading the submersion as a result of the height of the steles increasing or as a result of the ground sinking. Either away an increasing feeling of immersion is felt as one moves away from the perimeter towards the center.
This aspect of the berlin memorial is a conceptual bi-valence in the sense that although the feeling of depth is actually created by the increasing and decreasing of both the stele heights and the ground elevation, separating these two aspects of the design could produce the same result.
Depth as a function of increasing and decreasing stele heights:
Depth as a function of increasing and decreasing ground topography:
