MICHELLE JENNICA GAN
A R T E FA C T V O L U M E _ 0 3 MAJOR PROJECT 2021
Reframing
Ornament
“In the finest of these flourishes, we can read signs of goodness in a material register, a form of frozen benevolence. We see in them evidence of those sides of human nature which enable us to thrive rather than simply survive. These elegant touches remind us that we are not exclusively pragmatic or sensible: we are also creatures who, thrive in elaboration.”
ALAIN DE BOTTON
We find beauty in the revealed dialogues between our occupancy and these handmade fragments but seek a fairer balance. “In order not to mock such details we need a culture confident enough about its pragmatism and aggression that it can also acknowledge the contrary demands of vulnerability at play – a culture, that is sufficiently unthreatened by decadence as to allow for visible celebrations of tenderness.”
Criteria Through Three Lenses
CORNER OF A DRAWING ROOM EMMA MINNIE BOYD
Reca Victo Mem
alling orian mory
The houses recall a past they have grown witness to by unearthing depictions in painting. The objects are positioned to serve a purpose and form the identities of their owners, decorating the homes as their humanised proxies. DEPARTING FOR THE PROMENADE ALFRED STEVENS
Icon grap Abstra
nophic action
Each object is made iconographic to extract its pure geometrical nature, its layers, and its facets. A key to revealing moves that can transform yet sustain its nostalgic visual memory. HELEN MAUSDLEY
Form Funct Disasso
mal + tional ociation
The ornament is altered through mirroring, slicing, bloating, and multiplying to serve a new functionality for the modern resident. These encompass pragmatism, flexibility, porosity and tactile engagement. SUZANNE JONGMAN
Heritage Gardens
Reframing Ornament
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Ceiling Rosella - Amphitheatre
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Crown - Conservatory
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A R T E FA C T V O L U M E _ 0 3 MAJOR PROJECT 2021
Wallpaper - Planted Gardens
Rosella
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Victorian Depictions of the Rosella - The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in Their New York DiningRoom 1866
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Abstraction - The Rosella is broken into layers for its radial arraying geometry
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Ceiling Rosella
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Separate Rosella into layers by separating the base into 3, detaching the floral pendant and extracting the light fixture.
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Turn separated set of objects upside down, with the light facing the ceiling.
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Flatten base ridges into an even plane for the top layer, duplicate the silhouette for two more layers beneath.
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Subtract top surface with Rosella floral pendant.
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Re-attach extracted light fitting to the center.
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Extract petal forms from floral pendant and scale up. At point nearing the bud, extrude down to create a standing support.
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Construct amphitheater steps accordingly and array petaled seats along the edges.
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Place Rosella stage within a shelter. Pull out platform layers from beneath to extend out the stage.
“The houses offer their ceiling Rosellas to be overturned for a sheltered stage within a brick altar - its layers opening into platforms for a performance. Across the water, petaled seats festoon the steps like garlands.”
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View from within the sited amphitheatre.
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Sited axonometric of amphitheatre
Crown
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A Baroque Conservatory - A Shelter for Volatiles
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Abstraction - The crown molding is viewed for its division rather than its intricacies. Each section is given the ability to rotate and unfold.
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Crown Molding
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Separate a section of the banisters
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Extract the banister as modules and break into 3 halves to form vases for planting
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String newly formed vases on a rope
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Fill with propagating plants.
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Take the top of the crown’s molding. Extend one of its arms to form the centerline base of the conservatory. This is determined by site provisions.
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Create three dimensional form from its silhouette, replace stucco material with glass.
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Continue form expansion by filleting downwards.
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Create a mullion system to support the large glass planes.
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Piece together new objects to form a conservatory, to be filled with plants of the most exotic varieties.
“A folly rises over the field, The stucco terrace walls fade into a conservatory, a productive container for the exploration and cultivation. The crown molding inflates into a glass silhouette while Banisters from above string its beads down lending a nursery for propagation.”
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View from within the sited Conservatory
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Sited axonometric of conservatory
Wallpaper 09
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Depiction of a Baroque Garden - Hortus Palatinus
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Abstraction: The Wallpaper is broken down into sections. Floral patterns are viewed in mass that can be extruded up or concaved down.
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Victorian Wallpaper
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Graphically manipulate wallpaper print into two or 3 flattened colors.
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Set out garden beds for planting
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Overlay pattern extracted onto garden beds
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Place differing planting accordingly to match separated divisions.
“Sounds of rustling leaves whisper through the wind, as fields of green and gold fill the scene. Planting beds arranged in the order of Victorian wallpaper, bringing life to its lost vibrancy. ”
Planted Gardens
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View from within the sited planted gardens.
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Graphic plan of planted gardens
“Each home, each ornament, like each individual is unique. Rooted in my curiosities a process emerged to liberate and reclaim heritage. Through this operation, we are equipped to operate at any time period, any architectural or even non-architectural medium.”
We close the cabinet of curiosity, surrounded by ornament readapting heritage for a new intimacy. No longer suffocated by outdated protocols, we begin to impose our identity through the architecture. We look forward to the endless possibilities, wondering what could have been and curious of what is yet to come.