VEILS OF DEFENCE & LIBERATION

:[Task]

:[Background]

Personal perception is a powerful medium of impact and communication. In culmination of this year’s focus on identity making, we explore the dynamics of veiling: conceal & reveal.

[Enveloping perceptions, transforming realities & challenging preconceptions.]

The contemplation of veiling has resumed ‘centre stage’ most recently in Iran [2022] :

On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old woman was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for not wearing her hijab – a traditional Muslim face covering. Amini’s death has sparked grief and anger in Iran. Dozens of young people have since been killed and hundreds jailed in the ongoing series of protests against the regime.

The veil is enmeshed within a complex web of relations encompassing politics, religion & gender. It has been used as a method of creating or maintain a multitude of identities, an assertion of one’s right to an identity. It has a long history of association in African, European & Asian societies in the construction and contestation of identity, with varying possibilities of interpretation and application.

Within this range of possibility, the veil may be worn as a form of defence or resistance, it may present as an opportunity for integration or disguise, signal social exclusion or manifest as an act of liberation.

Working in pairs, generate a deconstructed, abstracted veil to reveal its capacity to defend and liberate constructs of identity within an architectural paradigm. Utilize architectonic principles to develop your construction methodology and related interpretation.

- As a pair, establish a standpoint of identity

- Through a series of workshop sessions, develop a physical (sculptural) model based on considerations of form, materiality, texture, light, perspective…

- Produce a well-curated A1 poster with a brief (200word) description of your concept (on the poster)

:[Deliverables & Outcomes]

1x Physical (sculptural) model (min size 500mm – width

– 500mm – height)

1x A1 Visual Poster as per task above

1x Oral paired presentation

:[Evaluation Criteria]

• Communication of design narratives

• Resolution of assembly elements (materials & connections)

• Visual & verbal clarity of abstracted concepts

:[References

1. Fondazione dEpart. (2013) ‘San Rocco – What’s wrong with the primitive hut?, - 8

2. Fondazione dEpart. (2018) ‘San Rocco – 66, - 14

3. Fondazione dEpart. (2013) ‘San Rocco – Collaborations, - 6

4. Fondazione dEpart. (2013) ‘San Rocco – Indifference, - 7

/ˈsɛmbləns/ noun the outward appearance or apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different.