39 minute read
Vectorworks
Algorithmic modeling
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Artistic design with Vectorworks Marionette
Image Courtesy of [delacourt][vanbeek]. Vincent van Gogh, born March 30, 1853, would be 167 years old if he were alive today. But what on earth does this Dutch painter have to do with an article on algorithmic modeling?
Image Courtesy of [delacourt][vanbeek]. Among hundreds of paintings in his unique strong-brush style, Van Gogh is known for more than 40 self-portraits from various periods of his life, each offering a glimpse into the artist’s head at the time of its creation. One need only recall his self-portrait following his lost ear to recognize the intimacy that comes with a Van Gogh portrait.
The artist has inspired many to create art of their own, including Dutch firm [delacourt][vanbeek], who recently recreated Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat on a courtyard in Zundert, the Netherlands. The brick mosaic now lives outside of the Van Gogh House where Van Gogh was born. [delacourt][vanbeek] wanted the brickwork to blend with the rest of the landscape, so they decided on a herringbone pattern, which made it challenging to produce an intricate portrait — “The stones are laid perpendicularly to one another. That makes it quite a puzzle,” said co-founder Ton van Beek. “How can you convert such an image into a herringbone pattern?”
“That is exactly where Marionette, Vectorworks' algorithms-aided design tool, comes into the picture,” he said. “It allows you to enter various parameters. This results in a kind of visual script that translates those parameters into new data.” They customized the script to recreate the Van Gogh image with their parameters, and the software was able to produce an accurate recreation.
[delacourt][vanbeek] is a firm from the Netherlands that specializes in architecture. Much of their work concerns a certain blending of natural and built environment; their co-founder, Ton van Beek, specializes in incorporating landscape architecture to the firm’s design work.
Van Beek works with co-founder Pieter Delacourt to form an office that is sophisticated in the areas of landscape architecture, urban architecture, and construction implementation. They boast a strong understanding of an entire design process — from conceptual design to coordinated BIM to construction processes.
For this project, construction was simple thanks to the data output from the Marionette script. The construction team laid down a sheet over the courtyard with the brick pattern printed on it and each tile was numbered to correspond to one of four brick pallets. This paint-by-numbers-like method allowed the construction team to seamlessly recreate Van Gogh’s self-portrait.
“The great thing about Vectorworks is that Marionette complements the entire range of Vectorworks tools,” said Van Beek. “We don’t need a separate program to carry out the operation, because Vectorworks presents the nodes in a very visual way, as simple blocks that can be connected to each other. This way, you can make your own scripting without needing extensive knowledge of scripting or programming.”
designexpress.eu
Image Courtesy of [delacourt][vanbeek].
Image Courtesy of [delacourt][vanbeek].
Erotic architecture
Hammond Druthers : Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Spokane national bank building. Bank President : That’s a penis!
For those who do not remember these lines, let me refresh your memory. Hammond Druthers was the boss and head of the fi rm in which probably the most famous architect of the 21th century was working: Ted Mosby. And if you still have no clue of who we are talking about, you might as well spend the next summer break binge-watching the whole 9 seasons of the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother. In this very episode, Ted’s fi rm was commissioned to design the headquarters for a major bank and fi nancial services company. Hammond, completely unaware of the clearly phallic shape that his creation was resembling, declared that he wanted his tower to “emerge from a thicket of unkempt brunette shrubbery”, contributing to the ambiguity and absurdity of the scene. However, those television skits, which its only apparent purpose is to get a laugh or a giggle from the audience, are in reality more than often aiming to parodize real-life situations. It is then clear that the stereotype in which the screen writers are tapping into is that of those funny-looking skyscrapers that are nowadays populating the city centre of all the major metropolises in the world. Therefore, the question arises: are these buildings actually shaped on purpose to remember human organs? Or is the eroticism hidden in these forms only in the mischievous mind of the viewer?
Oscar Niemeyer, a 20th century brasilian architect, best known for his masterplan of Brasilia, became famous for his sensuous, curvy, nature-inspired designs. He declared that “Right angles don’t attract me. Nor straight, hard and infl exible lines created by man. What attracts me are free and sensual curves. The curves we fi nd […] in the body of the woman we love.” In fact his architecture, even though not explicitly erotic in terms of the shapes used, aims to seduct the viewer with its grandieuseness and its silhouettes. Niemeyer therefore, in a period dominated by pragmaticism and rationalism, managed to break the conventional box of architecture intended as “four walls and a roof”. He gathered inspiration from a world very close to the human scale, the one of sexuality and sensuality, and brought it to a whole new level. In fact, as he proclaims, “life is more important than architecture”. French architect Jean Nouvel had a similar opinion to that of his Brasilian collegue. In an interview with The Guardian, he stated that “When there isn’t mystery, there isn’t seduction” and again, “Without a doubt, concealing is one of the elements of eroticism and therefore, of erotic architecture”. Taking as an example his Cartier Foundation, the two parallel, clear glass panels on a surface create uncertainty because of the way they play with transparency and refl ections, conveying a sense of mystery and tension. What he probably did not want to achieve, or at least not according to his interviews, is such an explicit sense of eroticism as he did with his Tower Agbar in Barcelona. The tower, in fact, has a shape that reminds immediately to that of a male organ, even though intended as a “geyser rising into the air“. This penis-shaped tower is what we could defi ne as an example of phallic or erotic architecture.
Recent years have given us many other interesting pieces of such kind of architecture. For instance, Foster and Partners erected their massive Gherkin in the middle of London almost 20 years ago. As a result of its shape, the building was, both ironically and not, compared to a penis. In fact, it ended up being even used for an erectile dysfunction treatment advertisement, showing the building distorted and bended towards the ground. Apparently very satisfi ed with ll the fuss created around their design, the fi rm wanted to make a followup with a new, controversial silhouette that would have once again enriched the London skyline. This priceless piece of architecture, named by its own creator “the Tulip”, however quickly became well-known online as “The Sperm”. (Un)fortunately, this masterpiece will never see the light of the day, being defi ned by the municipality as “highly unusable” and very unsustainable, due to the massive use of concrete that it would have implied.
Chepos is the independent architecture magazine of study association Cheops of the Technical University Eindhoven. For every edition, Chepos and pantheon// publish one of each other’s articles.
However, architects’ erotic fantasies do not stop to the male reproductive organ. For instance, Rem Koolhas’ design in Beijing for the CCTV Headquarters, also known as “The Legs” was nominated the “Most controversial design” by the magazine Time. Its shape has been said to resemble not only a pair of legs, as can be assumed from the name, a pair of legs occupied in a sexual act. This was in fact later confi rmed by the Dutch architect, admitting in his book Control published in 2004 of aiming to create an openly provocative design. Even Zaha Hadid Architects were accused of such things for her design of the Quatar’s 2022 world cup. The nickname “vagina stadium”, quickly given by jurnalists to the soon to be fi nished construction, made the female architect furious. “It’s really embarrassing that they come up with nonsense like this,” she told Time, proclaiming that not everything that has a hole needs to be seen mischievously. The Guardian has again its own take on the matter, dismissing it as “too big, too expensive and too much like a vagina”, recognising it as one of theorst designs of the now passed away archistar.
At this point, a question might arise: has it always been like this, or is the need to fi nd an erotic meaning to city landmarks an obsession of ecent years? In the 17th century, neoclassical architect Claude Nicholas Ledoux managed to display fantasies and sexual tensions through forms and ornaments in the oppressive French society of that time. The result can be seen in his initial draft for the House of Pleasure in Chaux, in which he draw the shape of a phallus as a fl oorplans, placed inside of a circle symbolising the female reproductive organ. Another famous example of pornographic architecture is Ledoux’s contemporary Jean-Jaques Lequeu. He became famous for his controversial designs, in which supreme rationalism is mixed with dreamy deviance. These two are however examples in which erotic inspired shape are dominating explicitly the design, without any subtlety or ambiguousness. In fact, it was in the early 20th century, with the rise of the fi rst skyscraper in Chicago and New York, that the association with the phallic symbolism really began. This was the case especially with the construction of the Empire State Building, that was described by historian Valerie Briginshaw as “the ultimate sign of American phallic power”.
To go back to the opening question, can it really be said that buildings are actually shaped to look erotic and seducing on purpose? According to some, such as Niemeyer, they do; others, like Zaha Hadid, would disagree. However, if this was true, why do they do so? What is the need to build gigantic reproductive organs? The underlying reality might be way deeper than we think. Sociologist and critics have tried to explain this phenomenon by comparing it with male dominancy: huge phallic towers are the visual representation of power, either of rich corporations or of the government itself.
Once again, The Guardian provides us with a possible interpretation, in an interview with feminist geographer Jane Darke. She in fact proclaimed that “Our cities are patriarchy written in stone, brick, glass and concrete.” This means that cities refl ect the norms of the societies that build them, and therefore sexism, being this deeply rooted in us. In the end, the real reason that lies behind these designs might be perpetually unknown to us. Maybe even the architects themselves are just acting subconsciously, without really actually thinking about any deeper meaning. Therefore, let’s leave the matter to sociologists, psycologists and feminists and enjoy those curious shapes that, once you see them, they will surely let a smile on your face.
To support this thesis, already in 1977 poet Dolores Hayden declared that “we can read in the skyscrapers’ looming shapes a reminder that our culture depends on false hopes of economic mobility as well as on rigid hierarchy, and that it thrives on social seduction as well as on architectural rape”.
Sources: 1. Leslie Kern. “Do cities have to be so sexist?”. 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/international 2. Nishtha Sadana. “CCTV Tower by Rem Koolhaas- The world’s most controversial building”. 2021. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/ 3. Salvatore Peluso. “Zaha Hadid Architects’ Al Janoub Stadium represents the inequalities of our time”. 2019. https://www.domusweb.it/ 4. Elena Cué. “Jean Nouvel on Architectural Eroticism and His Battles to Complete Buildings Correctly”. 2015. https://www.archdaily. com/?ad_name=small-logo 5. Ian Volner. “Jean-Jacques Lequeu Channeled Revolutionary Fervor into Fantastical Architecture and Transgressive Erotica”. 2020. https://www.artnews.com/c/art-inamerica/ 6. Christopher Beanland. “Bend it like Niemeyer: 10 of the best buildings in Brazil”. 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/ international
1 Images: 1. “A phallic capriccio” (collage by Luca Cecca)
Shadows of satisfaction
“' The mission of an architect is to help people understand how to make life more beautiful, the world a better one for living in, and to give reason, rhyme, and meaning to life.'
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Abandoning your kids, starting a cult-like community or even losing your family because of a gruesome murder spree. You can’t imagine these kinds of events happening to you. Nevertheless, the man we are talking about has experienced them all, yet is arguably one of the biggest infl uences on modern architecture today.
A lot of people have heard of Frank Lloyd Wright at some point in their lives, but not a lot of people know the things he personally went through. Born in 1867 he grew up with a shared passion for music with his father, who was a musician. His mother was a teacher who predicted he would grow up to design beautiful buildings, brought him geometrical toys, and surrounded him with engravings of English cathedrals. Nevertheless, he had an unstable and unhappy childhood. When he turned fourteen his father left the family to never be seen again.
GUGGENHEIM
TALIESIN
Later, after he studied civil engineering for a couple of years, he started an apprenticeship with the Chicago architectural fi rm of Adler and Sullivan, working directly under Louis Sullivan, known as ‘the father of skyscrapers’. His maxim “form follows function” had a lot of infl uence on Frank, who even carried on Sullivan’s dream of creating a unique American style of architecture. In 1989 Frank married a woman named Catherine Tobin and they eventually had six children together. Wright broke his bond with Sullivan when Frank started taking private commissions to design homes for Sullivans clients behind Sullivan’s back. They allegedly never spoke again. These residences and other public buildings later became known as the leading examples of the “Prairie School” of architecture. A popular example of this style of home is the Robie House.
Being married to his wife Catherine for over 20 years, he suddenly decides to leave her, his children, and his practice to move to Germany with the wife of a client, named Mamah Borthwick Cheney. In Germany he started working together with the publisher Ernst Wasmuth with whom he created two portfolios that further increased Wright’s international profi le as one of the leading architects of his time. Wright and Cheney later returned to the US where Frank designed a home for him, Cheney and her kids called Taliesin, which came to be known as one of his most famous works. In 1914 however, when Wright was not at home, a deranged servant of the Taliesin purposely set fi re to their house. While it was burning to the ground, Mamah Cheney and her children fl ed outside. Only to be met by the same servant who was waiting on them with an ax, gruesomely killing her and the children.
After suff ering this loss, Frank rebuilt the complete home and even found love again. In cooperation with his wife at the time, Olgivana, who he stayed with for the rest of his life, he started a cult in which students were called for to come study and work for Frank. This fellowship, later known as the Taliesin Fellowship, resulted in a lot of crazy stories about arranged marriages, unorthodox hierarchy and taboos for the students about leaving the fellowship. Despite the oddities that occurred, students still joined and felt that the lessons learned were worth the overall hardship.
In the end, Frank Lloyd Wright lived a most unusual life and experienced so much more than most people know. Even though he experienced all this adversity, he is still one of the greatest and most famous architects to have lived, infl uencing so many aspects in the world of architecture. So, in the future when you see the success behind an architect, who knows what kind of shadows might be behind their satisfaction? //
BI H MUR D C I
The twenty-fi rst century has been given the ‘the urban century’ according to some. In 2011, for the fi rst time in history, more than half of the world’s population (52%) lived in urban areas (Pendelbury et al., 2015). This percentage increased to 55% in 2018 is projected to keep growing to 68% in 2050 (United Nations, 2018).
While these cities are experiencing a shift, something else is also changing: urban warfare. While militaries have a long history fi ghting for cities, fi ghting in cities is a relatively new phenomenon. In the past, cities capitulated or got plundered as soon as its fortifi cations were broken (Spencer, 2020). But during World War Two, Europe experiences heavy and frequent fi ghting in urban areas for the fi rst time. Undoubtedly, cities suff er greatly when they experience the horrors of war. But does war kill a city? Not according to the Modern War Institute at West Point. Spencer (2019) argues that a city does not die as long as its vital components (the population, major water sources, its function, etc.) can still return. The city may be bombed to the ground, but if the population survives and they can return to the city, the city is not dead but severaly wounded, according to Spencer (2019). But what about the memories of the city? The walls of homes that have seen families grow, the bars that have experienced drunken friendships being formed, the streets that have seen protests, even the small alleys that have seen crime. The city that has seen love blossom, not only between inhabitants, but love towards the city itself. Can these remembrances be resurrected with the city? In this article I will look at diff erent cities that have experienced warfare and how the rebuilding of the city has been executed.
While the city of Rotterdam did not experience heavy fi ghting, it did suff er heavy bombing during World War Two. The city’s entire historic center was bombed to the ground by the Germans in fi fteen short minutes and throughout the war it continued to expereince hundreds of allied bombardments, the heaviest one being in Rotterdam-West. Thus, after the war the city was faced with the challenge of rebuilding. But not only rebuilding the homes, offi ces, schools, and more; it has to rebuild its persona. The ‘Basic Plan’ (Basisplan) of 1946 was the second plan off ered to and accepted by the city council. This plan diff ered drastically from the prewar city center, with only the Coolsingel, Goudsesingel en Boompjes remaining the same. Priority was given to the reconstruction of the port and throughout the 1950’s it became apparent that the city was in dire need of housing. Housing projects were started in Kralingen and Overschie, as well as extensions to the city such as Hoogvliet and Pendrecht. The city kept on rebuilding and developing throughout the 20th century, but the question remains: why was it decided that the historic center should not rebuild the pre-war grid the city had? McCarthy (1998) argues that the city saw this as their chance to design a new corporate, port city. With entrepreneurialism ingrained in Dutch culture, Rotterdam could be the new big city for business. All this considered, the city wanted to make sure it would not look too much like Amsterdam, as they were afraid Rotterdam would hide in the shadows of the more cosmopolitan and culturally sophisticated image of Amsterdam (McCarthy, 1998). And so, Rotterdam developed for decades into the Rotterdam we know today.
However since World War Two, there have been 150 other wars during which many cities were destroyed. Just like in Rotterdam, rapid reconstruction was the priority and the focus was on speed, standardisation and technologically oriented solutions. This is called a top-down approach (El-Masri & Kellett, 2001), but the top-down approach has its side eff ects: it ignores socioeconomic, cultural and developmental issues. This often leads to alien housing units that are either abandoned or altered. So the obvious solution seems to be the bottomup approach, which has signifi cant advantages. However, this is not something that can easily be achieved. It requires diff erent perceptions, policies and practices. It goes beyond just the physical aspects of an environment which means that fl oor plans and section drawings of housing units will not suffi ce (El-Masri & Kellett, 2001). The stories between the walls and on the streets need to be remembered and understood, so that plans can be made to rebuild the city and there’s no one that knows the city better than the communities that lived in it.
Lebanon suff ered from a civil war from 1975 to 1991. Lebonan is comprised of a largely Christian northern part and largely muslim southern part, but these religious diff erences are outweighed by the Arab culture that is shared by both demographic groups. The Arab culture is so predominant, that there is no diff erence in architecture to be seen in the northern and southern areas of the country (El-Masri & Kellett, 2001). So what did a Lebanese village look like before the war? El-Masri
A 1990s Martyrs’ Square street vendor sells posters of the same place in the late sixties. (Source: https://flashbak.com/life-amidst-the-ruins-beirut-during-and-after-the-1975-1990-lebanese-civil-war-439324/)
& Kellett (2001) explain that the fundamental factors as kinship, the attachment to the land, helping others and respect of elders. Family is also very important, so much so that your social status depends on your familial background. When the two religious groups co-existed in a village, the sharp line of spatial control was clear. Nonetheless, the groups maintain peace by visiting each other on special occasions and friendly gestures (El-Masri & Kellett, 2001).
El-Masri & Kellett (2001) first did an in-depth study of the two Lebanese villages of which the reconstruction they were going to study. Before they were destroyed, the construction of the dwellings were generally a result of an initiative from the household. Building permits were often ignored and the people built until they were satisfied and sure that it could house enough people. After all, they were in charge of the design, construction, materials and management. Accordingly, the households that were interviewed expressed a strong, positieve attachment towards their village and homes. This was not only their home, but the home of their ancestors and descendants. So, they considered this as a chance to improve their society; a chance to prevent making the same mistakes as before. Still, the dwellings are being rebuilt in the same manner as during the pre-war era, including making some of the same mistakes as before. The activities to rebuild are also done on an individual scale, meaning that there is no communal effort and the issues that the village has are not addressed (El-Masri & Kellett, 2001). It should be mentioned that comparing the massive port city of Rotterdam to the small, communal villages in Lebanon is like comparing apples and oranges. Despite that, we can learn a lot from these cases. We can conclude that there is not a simple formula that can be applied to all countries, cities and towns. The cities as they were before the war need to be researched and understood. This means not only the grid plan, infrastructure and facilities that the cities had to offer, but also the culture, the communities, the households and more. Most importantly, we can only hope that this dilemma of rebuilding murdered cities, will be a dilemma of the past. //
SOURCES:
United Nations. (2018, May 16). 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects. html
Pendlebury, J. R., Erten, E., & Larkham, P. J. (2015). Alternative Visions of Post-war Reconstruction. Routledge.
Spencer, J. (2019, March 28). The Destructive Age of Urban Warfare; or, How to Kill a City and How to Protect It. Modern War Institute. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https:// mwi.usma.edu/destructive-age-urban-warfare-kill-city-protect/
Spencer, J. (2020, March 22). The City Is Not Neutral: Why Urban Warfare Is So Hard. Modern War Institute. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://mwi.usma.edu/citynot-neutral-urban-warfare-hard/
McCarthy, J. (1998). Reconstruction, regeneration and re-imaging. Cities, 15(5), 337–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0264-2751(98)00029-8
El-Masri, S., & Kellett, P. (2001). Post-war reconstruction. Participatory approaches to rebuilding the damaged villages of Lebanon: a case study of al-Burjain. Habitat International, 25(4), 535–557. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0197-3975(01)00023-6
rest in peace.
VIRGIL VIRGIL ABLOH ABLOH
Source: 1] https://canary---yellow.com/ 2] https://fashionunited. nl/nieuws/mensen/tijdlijn-een-blik-op-virgil-abloh-s-gevierde-carriere/2021112951826 Artwork: Luka Jonker
Virgil Abloh, most commonly known as OFF-WHITE’s creator, and creative director of Louis Vuitton. His immense success in the fashion industry is even more remarkable as he never had a formal fashion-based education. During his career Abloh is often credited for bringing streetwear and luxury brands together, and by doing so reaching out to a whole new audience.. Therefore, it’s no surprise he reached the list of 100 most infl uential people in 2018. His impressive accomplishments, and the ability of being able to be that infl uential through design is one of the reasons his premature death came as a big shock last year.
Besides these impressive accomplishments during his life, the most interesting part of it is the fact that he started just like us as a ‘Bouwko’. He started his student career as a civil engineering student the university of Wisconsin-Madison, but after realizing this mistake he attained his master’s degree in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. However, Abloh did not contain his creativity to
Ablohs designs: from Ye`s album covers, furniture or interior design. His way of designing clothes is also used in these other creative diciplines. He creates an interdiciplinairy identity that benefits from each different perspective the dicplines have to offer, while at the same time expressing the same “language”. the mere spheres of architecture. During his studies Abloh was introduced to a curriculum established by Mies van der Rohe, formed from the notions of Bauhaus, that taught him to combine the fields of art, craft and design. He merged these theories with contemporary culture that formed his interdisciplinary practice later on. Besides his work as a fashion designer, he also created other noteworthy projects like the album cover for Ye’s critically acclaimed album Yeezus, designed a furniture line together with IKEA, did the pre-show of a Travis Scott tour, did an interior design together with OMA and is even interviewed in Koolhaas his book Elements of architecture, just to name a few. These multidisciplinary designs Abloh creates are what make him stand out. He moves fluidly between different disciplines, while at the same time preserving his own signature way of designing . It is not only what he designs that is inspiring, but also the fact that he is not bound to the borders set by titles as for example fashion designer. As an artist he is not satisfied with one form of creating. By bringing the influence of one realm of creating to another, new and refreshing ideas are born. He is of course not the only person to work in different disciplines of art, some of his generation like Ye, others like Michelangelo long before him. What makes Abloh stand out to me is that he was just like some of us, a dissatisfied architect, moving past the boundaries set upon him, and becoming one of the most influential artists of our time.
Should we be limited to being ‘just an architect’? Should we ignore the boundaries set out of practical necessities? Because of course architects are required to have a different set of skills then musicians. And probably not every architect should be a musician at the same time, but what Abloh has proven is that architects can be much more then just architects. Something we should want to become, not because ‘just architects’ are lame, rather because outside the boundaries of the necessary definition ‘architect’ lies a whole other world of new and refreshing ideas and concepts ready to be explored. Every architecture student that considers architecture even as the slightest form of art knows at heart that some of the most fundamental principles of architecture are the same as any other art form out there. Instead of being paralyzed by the weight of the defining terms like ‘architect’, we should seek more satisfaction in being an artist. In exploring what it means to be an artist we step outside the lines, free to explore new ideas, something architecture will no doubt benefit from. Moving between disciplines as freely as water, Abloh explored what it meant to be an artist. Where Abloh encountered Mies van der Rohe and Bauhaus during his architecture master that taught him to combine the different fields of art, for me Abloh, the dissatisfied architect, is the prodigy of our generation artists. //
As any average person interested in theatre, I’ve seen plays ranging from ballets to farces to musicals to stand-ups. Some infl uence you more, some less, some fi ll your evening with laughter, and some keep lingering in your mind years later. Which is what Série série série from the theatrical group D’epog did for me, but fi rst let me explain its unconventionality and to be quite honest complete ludicrousness.
Not only was the play fi lled with odd movement, words and facial expressions that didn’t make sense, as well as a screenplay that had no continuity whatsoever, but the entire environment was uncomfortable as well. The actor’s costumes were bizarre compilations of neon sports clothes, wellness products, like cooling eye patches, and 80s items, like fanny packs and scrunchies. The stage was situated in the middle of the theatre hall, with audience seats in 270° around it. A round stage is not completely unconventional in theatre, but in this case the stage was divided into sections with large white screens, creating separate audience groups, which accordingly had diff erent views. At one point a dialogue was happening on the other side for a good twenty minutes, which our side didn’t see anything of, except for the sound. This round setup also meant that if at any point during this play you wanted to leave, for good or just for a bathroom break, you would have to walk right across the stage and past the actors to get to the exit door, which for most is quite humiliating and awkward.
There was a part about halfway thought the play, where it seemed as if the technical equipment that they were using to project images onto the screens had malfunctioned. The computer needed a software update and so one of the actors seemed to “step out of character” decided to tell us a story before they could continue with the play again. It almost seemed as if we were catching up with an old friend in a pub and he was telling on of his hilarious college stories. But then, just as we were getting to the point of the story, everything dimmed down, and the actors fell asleep on stage! This was then followed with 40 minutes of silence and darkness, with the sole exception of an updating Microsoft software on the projector screen. It was like some sort of sick joke, where the audience had no clue When hearing this you might think; “Well, why didn’t everyone walk out after 10 minutes?”, but not only did the stage set up make that incredibly diffi cult. But the fl uctuation between sense and non-sense made it surprisingly challenging to look away. But after 3 hours of sitting in a room, which was about six degrees too hot, looking at a play that didn’t make sense and even having a 40 minute “nap” in the middle, I gave up. I fi nally scraped enough courage together and walked off , over the stage, and all the way to the exit. And let me tell you, people followed in a frenzy. After the play really ended my friend who dragged me along to this play was ecstatic, while I wanted to scream at her for making me pay money for this “joke” of a play. But about a week later, once I had cooled down and discussed the play with her, I realised there was more to what I had seen. She explained that the play was a sort of “test” as to the limits of the audience. And in a way I felt as some sort of experimental lab rat, but on the other hand, I realised how intriguing such a concept was. Why should theatre necessarily be wholly satisfying all the time?
For many years, Great Britain has presented itself as the “mother of theatre” and relied heavily on its Shakespearean classics. After all, almost everyone knows the Globe Theatre, and I’m not even talking about Macbeth, Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet. But the constantly recurring classics created some frustration among artists in the twentieth century. These classic plays pamper their viewers incredibly, they experience positive emotions and, thanks to the repetition of stories, they always know how the story ends. This apathy of the audience received a response in the nineties.
So-called coolness drama, or in-yer-face, was created. A new genre of play scripts that portrayed such shocking acts that they were able to achieve confrontation between the audience and the world as well as with themselves. These games were not only a response to the European political situation at the time; for example, the newly fallen Iron Curtain, the civil war in Yugoslavia or social unrest on home soil in Britain, but also the general frustration amongst artists with the indiff erent approach of the spectator towards the stage. The scenarios included vulgarities, nudity, crime but also sadism, the cutting of limbs, cannibalism and rape. It all started in the early eighties with Caryl Churchill. Thanks to her coolness drama could bloom as she paved the way with her non-naturalist techniques and feminist motives. Her successors took this one step further beyond the boundaries of tradition and conservatism. Mark Ravenhill has shocked the whole world with his script called Shopping and Fucking, Sarah Kane wrote the screenplay for a disturbing story called Skin, which was later turned into a short fi lm with disturbing images of drug abuse, racism, and even hints of masochism. All these stories were meant to shock the audience and get then to really think about their actions and perhaps even convince them to look around and help where it is needed. Currently the Belgian play called Mount Olympus by Jan Fabre, which lasts 24 hours, is unmissable when it comes to “dissatisfying” theatre. Many brutal scenes appear during this play, but the main theme is time and how the audience and the actors treat it during those twenty four hours.
It is also important to remember that not everything written by a playwright is shown to the same degree on stage. Each sentence, emotion or movement that is written in the script is then imagined diff erently by the director. Writers come up with something and then it’s up to the other parties to understand and interpret it in their own way. And many of these interpretations actually revolve around funding. I don’t want to say that art would not exist without money, but when it comes to theatrical productions, most of the time, it is necessary to have access to diff erent space, materials, actors, and technical equipment. And therefore, to some extent, these plays must please its sponsors. Each theatre has diff erent funding strategies and fi nd themselves on a certain scale of dependence on national funds and the government.
When you think about it, this is technically a form of censorship. The issue of censorship of selected artists, performances, or exhibitions is not a new thing. Most of human history takes place at a time when censorship was a daily aff air and we are now fortunate enough that there are many legal measures that prevent the state from committing any form of censorship (in free countries at least). We can express our views and experiences in an open environment. But we also can’t lie to ourselves that any farce can appear on a national stage. Some things are simply too controversial to aff ord.
In my opinion, it’s as follows: every play, ever written, by any writer, takes shape on stage, after being handled by multiple parties. Directors make decisions and the actors give the written words and movements life. The audience ultimately are the ones who decide on the play’s lifetime. In a way, they are also the organ that passively decides what plays can and can’t be shown. When you explain it this way, it can be scary, it looks like any art form is eventually distorted by the audience. But that’s what makes art so incredibly amazing. It’s an ever-morphing concept that is a mirror of our own society and shaped by ourselves. So, next time you’re choosing a play to see, opt for something out of your comfort zone. Who knows? You might come out a diff erent person. Because in my eyes, if anything, art should be able to humble you and make you think; about yourself, your life, and the world you live in. //
ARCHITECTURE IN CINEMA
THE POWER OF VISUAL STORYTELLING
Directed by Spike Jonze Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johanssen and Rooney Mara
In Spike Jonze’s science-fiction romance movie Her (2013), Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falls in love with an artificial intelligence system in a world in which advanced AI is available to the general public.
To suit this dystopian plot, a suitable setting is needed to support the storyline. In a world in which technology becomes inseparable to society, the architecture tends to reflect that. The main character lives in an urban, high-tech environment which is filled with high-rise buildings, in a setting that resembles a combination of Los Angeles and Shanghai. Through the use of buildings with mainly glass façades, the lack of privacy correlated to the digital world is communicated. To display Theodore’s loneliness, K. K. Barnett, the man in charge of the realization of the setting, chose to use large open spaces which surround Theodore everywhere he goes.
Especially notable in this movie, is the interior design of Theodore’s workplace and the contrast it forms with his home. The workspace is colourful and cheerful, which is fitting for Theodore’s work, as he professionally writes personal and heartfelt letters for other people. The pink and blue plexiglass create an interesting and dynamic visual effect that fills the, essentially, all-white space. His apartment, on the other hand, does not have those pops of colour. It is more dull, but also possesses an openness, white walls and large windows.
The architecture in this movie reflects the actions that take place in it, without it being too out-there to distract from the rather simple plot. The spaces reflect how Theodore’s character not only sees the space around him, but how he experiences it as well. //
Directed by Henry Selick Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher en Jennifer Saunders
Coraline (2009) is based on the novel of the same name published in 2002, which was written by Neil Gaiman. It tells the story of a young girl who moves into a new house with her parents. One day, she discovers a mysterious door in the house that leads to an alternate dimension where everything seems perfect. Thus, she does not hesitate to seek refuge there from her unfulfi lling reality, unaware of the horrors hidden behind the door.
The animated stop-motion fi lm starts with its titular character, Coraline, wandering around the Pink Palace Apartments, her new residence. In its opening sequence, the setting of the fi lm is established before even a discernible word of dialogue is muttered. The house itself is a large Victorian house with a pink exterior. The colours are bleak and muted, indicating the age of the building. Even the sign with ‘Pink Palace Apartments’ written on it is worn out.
The next scene in which the audience gets a full glimpse of the house is when Coraline has travelled to the alternate dimension for the fi rst time. The sky is a lot darker than the fi rst shot of the house because she goes at night, but yet the colours are evidently more vibrant than they were in her reality. The colours, both in the exterior and the interior become more warm, resulting in a more homelike feel to the house. Further, the detailing of the house’s façade becomes more intricate, with the introduction of whimsical swirly lines in the architecture. In this shot, the architecture serves a clear purpose in misleading the audience along with Coraline. By displaying the new and improved house, the perfection of this universe is emphasized. Coraline, as well as the audience members, gain a false sense of security through the design of the house.
Finally, at the end of the movie the house is shown once again, after all of the horrors have been resolved and Coraline has reconciled with her real parents. Together with the people that she meets throughout the movie and her family, she starts taking more care of the garden and the house. Neither the building nor the garden become as fl awless as the one in the alternate dimension, but it displays the love and the hard work that was put into the renovation instead. //
Directed by Guillermo Del Toro Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain
The gothic romance/horror movie Crimson Peak (2015) largely takes place in a mansion named Allerdale Hall, a neo-gothic mansion located in Cumberland, England. This stunning display of visual storytelling shown by the design of the building excellently establishes the dark and gloomy ambiance of the movie. Moreover, the building refl ects the history of the Sharpe family that has lived there for centuries. The interior set design is especially memorable as it eff ectively combines whimsical shapes, which are common stylistic elements in Del Toro’s works, and traditional Victorian ornaments. This sets the viewers up for a visually-pleasing, fantastical horror movie that is an ode to the gothic genre that is supported by Guillermo Del Toro’s characteristic style. Del Toro is known as the director of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017). Moreover, the dark colours of the building form a stark contrast to the snow that encapsulates it, which results in an eeriness that remains until the end of the movie.
The interior of the mansion was built in a set in Toronto, Canada, while the outer façade was computer-generated. To Del Toro, it was extremely important that the set itself felt like a real habitable house. As a result of this, the set was built to be fully functional, including the vintage elevator and fi replaces. Del Toro stated that the only part that ‘was not real’ was the gaping hole in the roof of the house as the sky had to be green screened.
Simply stated, Del Toro and production designer Tom Sanders managed to make a structurally sound construction that solidates the aesthetic of the fi lm. //
