THE ISLE OF CATALYSIS
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Richard Meade
WELCOME TO THE ISLE OF CATALYSIS
Platform X sits on the fictional island of Catalysis, anchored just off the coast of Santa Maria, itself an islet off the coast of the mainland. My project ‘tells’ the story of a group of explorers returning to Cape Verde in the year 2050 with reports of a pristine, empty landscape that has drifted close to the island. No one knows where it originated, or how it arrived in Cape Verde. The islanders are both afraid of, and fascinated by the platform. The explorers are sent to investigate it further. The group is made up of an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, and a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Platform X itself. Whilst this is very firmly an architectural proposition, containing many of the familiar elements of a design proposal – site, landscape, program, form, materiality and so on – I’ve made a number of important shifts in my understanding of these conditions. The site of my project is both real and fictional. The first ‘site’ drawing, begun after returning from Cape Verde, and was the first important step in setting up the narrative for Platform X. The drawings and models build – again, quite literally – the project through different ‘series’, drawings that speculate on the nature of enclosure
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:3. 2016 4
Richard Meade
‘Fairy tales seem to be removed from society because they are fanciful, and they disobey the limits of space and time. In reality, however, the fairy tale format is simply a vehicle for addressing the most challenging issues that we face, not just as architects, but as a society. Architecture isn’t about a single building, it’s our environment and our future. It’s easy enough to design a building or a new piece of technology and call it revolutionary. Exploring visions of the future is much more difficult, and potentially more troubling, but ultimately could be much more fruitful.’ Matthew Hoffman and Francesca Giuliani
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Photograph of ruins - depiction of character with leprosy. 2016 6
Richard Meade
ARTEFACT
The remains of the buildings are left alone because it does not impact the people living on the main land. Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape. We now join the latest expedition on their discovery, 50 years on.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Photograph of ruins - on Leper island looking back to Praia. 2016 8
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Photograph of ruins - names of visitors and survivors engraved into the walls. 2016 10
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting conceptual exploration. Image 01. 2016 12
Richard Meade
SITING
Parts of the whole start shifting, some merge to become new identities, others drift off into isolation. The strands they tie them all together become tangled, the only thing reconnecting them is there GPS location. They are now seen as sites. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers they discover a massive topographic anomaly and forms that surpass understanding.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting. Conceptual exploration. Image 02. 2016 14
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting Map No:1. 1/2. 2016 16
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting Map No:1. 2/2. 2016 18
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting. Map No:2. 1/2. 2016 20
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting. Map No:2. 2/2. 2016 22
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Sighting photograph of site extraction No:1. 2016
Sighting photograph of site extraction No:2. 2016
Sighting photograph of site extraction No:3. 2016 26
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Richard Meade
FLUID LANDSCAPES
The landscape starts to shift and eruptions start to happen. Small volcanic eruptions scatter the earth, revealing the underlying make up of the terrain. They cannot agree about what they are seeing (a scar, a lake or the ocean) and all of them are all the while half-aware of being hypnotically manipulated by this terrain.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fluid Landscapes. Image No:2. 2016 30
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fluid Landscapes. Image No:3. 2016 32
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fluid Landscapes. Image No:4. 2016 34
Richard Meade
Fluid Landscapes. Image No:5. 2016 | Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:6. 2016 36
Richard Meade
SITE EXTRACTIONS
The merging of different materials reveals autonomic materials that have yet to be understood. Their instruments are useless, their methodology broken, their motivations selfish. This is anything but an expression of doubt.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:2. 2016 38
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:4. 2016 40
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:3. 2016 42
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:5. 2016
Site extractions. Site No:1. 2016 46
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:9. 2016 48
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:8. 2016 50
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Site extractions. Site No:10. 2016 52
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Screen shots of ambient film. 2016 54
Richard Meade
DISPOSITIONAL STATE
The platform is connected to both, The land and sea. It
exists within, above and below this mysterious terrain. That is all that is known About the platform. The unknown is what eludes the scientists. These are not questions but propositions. The fungus growing on the walls are evolving at a rapid pace and it’s taking over the entire structure. Discovered upon this island is a site titled PLATFORM X. Its sited within the realm of real and fiction. What is its existence? Was it abandoned, evacuated, decommissioned or left alone? Know body knows.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Screen shot of ambient film. 2016 56
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Assembly of confinements. 2016 58
Richard Meade
FRAGMENTED MEMORIES
The mechanical parts that exist within the platform enable the structure to drag itself along the ocean floor. Leaving its original territory and entering new terrains, collecting natural elements as it moves along. The platform is entirely autonomous; the movement of the sea below and the wakes that come from ships that pass by drives gives life to mechanical parts. Which in turn, enables its existence. It houses a viewing post that is also a statue, a guard house and a pillory, a laboratory, lighthouse and flagpost. No one lives permanently on the island, yet those who visit are unable to forget it. It is both memorable and elusive. Trying to remember the island is like catching the wind.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:1. 2016 60
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:2. 2016 62
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:3. 2016 64
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:4. 2016 66
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:5. 2016 68
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Fragmented Memories. Image No:6. 2016 70
Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Richard Meade
CONFINEMENTS
The viewing post The guard house, The pillory, The laboratory, The lighthouse.
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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Richard Meade
| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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| Graduate School of Architecture | University of Johannesburg |
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