Architecture1o1 _ From Place To Space Words [are] matter
Curated by Marina Metaxa
Instagram | Twitter | @mani_elab
What is Architecture 1o1? Architecture 1o1 is an introduction to space and architecture through 101 exercises. A six-month journey divided into 3 “online” courses hosted on Iversity: Part 1 _ From Nothingness to Place Part 2 _ From Place to Space Part 3 _ From Space to Architecture Words [are] matter is a visual narration of my experience during the second part of the course. In conclusion of my wandering From Nothingness To Place, a quite clear springboard has been set for this second journey From Place To Space. Release from my often excessive mental processes, explore and expand freely through specific and more efficient actions, seemed to be the right direction to undertake for my progress. My Architecture1o1 peers not only have been fundamental for my learning progress but they have also been of great support in moments of exhaustion and lack of motivation. Part of this booklet presents a selection of my peers’ artworks that have been of great inspiration and allowed me to acquire new visual languages. Be part of this community and observe day by day the plurality of points of view, aesthetic perceptions and sensitivity has been one of the biggest benefits i had from this experience. Thus said, special acknowledgement goes to my colleagues for all the encouragement and creative energy they shared. Last but not least, my gratitude and appreciation goes to our tutors Anne-Sophie Gauvin and Stefano Mirti for their commitment and their precious guidance throughout this project. Enjoy.
Part 1 _ What I’ve learned
The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know. [Michel Legrand]
Week 1 _ History of Place. / History of Space 34/101 35/101 36/101 37/101 38/101
#WeAllShineOn #NothingIsBuilt #NoCowOnTheIce #YouGetUp #ThereIsNothing
34/101
We are in Stonehenge. I don’t know much about it. How do I familiarize with an unknown place. A place so far away from me? I entrust myself to other people’s documented experience. The scientific research. The hypothesis and theories. The legends. A lot of information to evaluate. History, stories, tales. Words.
A conceptual physical model of Stonehenge. An attempt to grasp and represent the spirit of the site. 36/101
37/101 Find a place without any direct human intervention. Only natural elements. Trees, bushes, the land...Take a picture of it. Add an existing diagram to your picture to express why this specific location looked as a “place� to you.
A field narrates so many stories. The succession of seasons, the human effort and care that takes to keep it fecund, the transformation of the land and the variation of colors. A place is where things happen, where things 'take place' like we say. Words matter and are fundamental to experience and comprehent what happens around us. Sentence diagram // Franz Kafka; Meramorphosis
Week 2 _ Proportions 39/101 40/101 41/101 42/101 43/101
#ThePrimaryFactor #TheSimplestWay #TheEggHas #ItIsNotHow #ThereIsNoExcellent
39/101 The primary factor is proportions. [Arne Jacobsen]
Zabriskie Point
40/101
In the desert all my silence shall become a stone. [from Journey to Earth; Stereo Nova]
41/101 Use an empty space in the Lascaux caverns and explain us about your place. The Lascaux caverns give me feelings of frustration and discomfort. I feel that i’m running out of air. While in panic, I produce too many thoughts. None of which worths space in my place.
42/101 There is your body, but it is not your body anymore; it’s a natural landscape. Transform the natural landscape into a place. What will I learn? To transform your body into a curious and special place. Why do we do this? To underline the relationship between our body and projections of our mind. --I tried to recall how this peacock invaded my mental space that day and my left palm later. No luck. A very strong projection of my mind dominated the entire surface of my hand. The white peacock. And all the symbolism that holds in it. Theories, beliefs, words.
Week 3 _ Taking Measurements 44/101 45/101 46/101 47/101 48/101
#ThereIsNoNeed #AdversityIs #OurLifeIs #NotAllThose #IllPaintYou
44/101
There is no need to build a labyrinth when the entire universe is one. [Jorge Luis Borges]
47/101
Not all those who wander are lost. [J. R. R. Tolkien]
53/101 Make a conceptual paper model of your cave. Take a picture of your model, add the information we need to know about using a diagram, add people if you wish. --I love words very much. I've always loved to talk, and I've always love words - the words that rest in your mouth, what words mean and how you taste them and so on. And for me the spoken word can be used almost as a gesture. [Martha Graham] 'Lamentation' + waveform diagram of the Swedish phrase 'som vi' (that we..) spoken by a radio newsreader.
Week 4 _ Conceptual Models 49/101 50/101 51/101 52/101 53/101
#TheValueOf #BeholdHuman #MaybeThe #YabbaDabba #WhoWouldBelieve
53/101
54/101
Week 5 _ Papercut Models 54/101 55/101 56/101 57/101 58/101
#ThroughSpace #BeforeIMake #AllTheRivers #WhatsThatScreaming #IfItHadBeen
55/101
Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake. [Johan Cruyff]
Today I learn to eliminate the unnecessary. To grasp the essential.
58/101 Today I put my paper scene in a digital world. It is colorful, it is infinite and melodic. It is a happy ending for LĂŠon and Mathilda <3
Week 6 _ Building (digital) space 59/101 60/101 61/101 62/101 63/101
#MarbleIsNot #RetainYour #IWouldRather #TheEgoIs #ToGatherHoney
61/101 Today i build columns. A line of 16 aligned columns. And then 16, on a 4 by 4 grid. And then... You say, Boy George would rather have a cup of tea than sex. I think of Woody Allen; he things sex is the most fun you can have without laughing. You say something. I make connections..then in my mental projections I change scale. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see columns anymore. Now I see skyscrapers. Some random metropolis. Could this be New York? Yes it could.
62/101 The ego is not master in its own house. [Sigmund Freud] But the craft of the hand is richer than we commonly imagine. (...) The hand reaches and extends, receives and welcomes - and not just things: the hand extends itself, and receives its own welcome in the hands of others. (...) Every motion of the hand in every one of its works carries itself through the element of thinking, every bearing of the hand bears itself in that element. All the work of the hand is rooted in thinking. -- Martin Heidegger, â&#x20AC;&#x153;What Calls for Thinking?â&#x20AC;? keywords: #ego #kids #pedagogy #character #freedom #balance
Part 2 _ What Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned from my peers
If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. [Isaac Newton]
ability to create beautiful scenes great use of photography, light and shadows
#meetmyarch1o1guru
very direct and efficient concepts
#meetmyarch1o1guru elegant handling of colors great ability to compose digital scenes
great ability to compose digital scenes very well balanced black & white images
#meetmyarch1o1guru powerful and evocative images great use of colors great ability to compose digital scenes
I admire the handling of a single line and the composition of such essential graphic outcomes.
#meetmyarch1o1guru
#meetmyarch1o1guru
great ability to create visual scenes, mixing analogic and digital elements
from color to smoother tones with the same elegance
variation of styles
great ability to create digital scenes, manage colors and experiment diferrent kinds of style
#meetmyarch1o1guru
#meetmyarch1o1guru
great ability to create plays of light and shadows and produce very evocative images
#meetmyarch1o1guru
amazing ability to conceptualize ideas and produce new scenes from scratch
very elegant compositions
#meetmyarch1o1guru
great ability to handle lights and shadows original and always straight to the point concepts
#meetmyarch1o1guru
effortless simplicity and great efficiency of concepts great handling of black and white tones great ability to create new scenes from scratch
#meetmyarch1o1guru
#meetmyarch1o1guru
great handling of black and white tones great ability to create new scenes from scratch rigorous graphic style and concept admirable precision
#meetmyarch1o1guru
Part 3 _ My mental space
Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again. [Joseph Campbell]
Throughout my journey “From Place to Space” my bizarre attachment to words once again has emerged. For some reason I’m not aware until now, words have always fascinated me. More specifically their etymology as the genesis of the word itself. The meaning of the partial components that give body to a new meaning thus give matter and definition to a new existing thing. In my ‘special’ mental space, words are an essential medium of my perception, hence of my mental projections.
Week 6 _ Building (digital) space 63/101 #ToGatherHoney
On my journey ‘From Place to Space’ I visualized my special space as a “dream stage”. A performing space where words put in action several scenarios and possibilities in function of my inner rational and emotional connections. My main challenge has been to riduce the distance between my mental space and what lies beyond it and improve my communication. The effort to optimize my mental process in terms of words that determine my thoughts thus my mental projections, has modified my visual language and eventually led in a more direct and spontaneous expression.
Week 6 _ Building (digital) space 63/101 #ToGatherHoney
In my perception of mental space permeability is fundamental, nonetheless the flexibility to modify point of view and perspective. It is not considered as a haven where take cover for individual meditation. In conclusion of my wandering ‘From Place to Space’ I found an overview where give onto, intersect other ‘mental spaces’ and acquire different visions.
Week 6 _ Building (digital) space 63/101 #ToGatherHoney
Architecture1o1 _ Part2: From Place to Space. A MOOC directed by ABADIR Accademia di Design e Arti visive, Stefano Mirti, Anne-Sophie Gauvin and hosted by