William du Toit PortfolioArchitecture2019—2022
02 Index 24222016121006032019201920222020202120212021TheAboutMachine Stops [exhibition] The Stamper Battery The Machine Stops [thesis] Humbugaa Exhibition TeThinPeriscopesHousingPapaMuseum Redux
I love all things architecture, specifically speculative drawing and its ability to preserve cultural heritage stories. My work uses this as a tool to explore themes of conflict between the natural and man made worlds.
The following works are a selection of speculative and narrative architecture projects completed in the past 3
I am currently working as an architectural graduate at foster+melville architects in Wellington, New Zealand. I also tutor at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture & Design teaching 3rd year design studio.
In my spare time I run a small graphic design company offering services for event/music promoters across the country. I also DJ occasionally, occasionally supporting international artists as they tour Aotearoa.
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@wdt.design+64211202430will.dutoit.11@gmail.comyears.About
“And behind all the uproar was silence the silence which is the voice of the earth and of the generations who have gone …. Only the whispers remained, and the little whimpering groans.”
The Machine Stops [exhibition]
Stops is a group show of allegorical architectural projects concerned with cultural identity, natural history and global ecologies. Thirteen postgraduate research students from Te Kura Waihanga Wellington School of Architecture reflect on how a speculative drawing practice can help reawaken environmental, societal and cultural narratives that represent the heritage of Aotearoa, even when these tales may only be visible as scattered fragments in the landscape.Thetitleof the exhibition is taken from E. M. Forster’s 1909 short story ‘The Machine Stops’. In Forster’s story, society relies on technology to provide for all its needs – and when the machine breaks down, civilisation collapses. Utilising Forster’s title and literary provocation, my work visualises the story to reawaken a tale about environmental devastation caused by hundreds of stamper batteries –now rusting in the wilderness – that were imported into Otago to crush stone during the 1860 gold rush.
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Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi Kelburn, Wellington Curated by Daniel K Brown
—E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops”
Gallery2021-2022ExhibitionTheMachine
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Opening night of the exhibition mid pandemic
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09 Decay Series I Pen2021and ink on paper + digital excavation
“But Humanity, in its desire for comfort, had over-reached itself. It had exploited the riches of nature too far. Quietly and complacently, it was sinking into decadence, and progress had come to mean the progress of the Machine.”
Ink on paper processing Machine Stops”
Recognition
+Speculative2021allegoricalUndertakendrawingpost study and specifically for The Machine Stops Exhibition, this allegorical speculative drawing was an opportunity to showcase the all the techniques and methods I learnt duringThisuniversity.drawing combines 7 previous drawings form my thesis, intertwining them with orthographic, layering and notation techniques. From within the drawing an architectural intervention begins to emerge - a Department of Conservation campsite - while a field of architectural forms, sketches and scribbles gravitate aroundTheit.Stamper
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The Stamper Battery
—E.M.3800x1200mmForster,“The
Digital
Featured page 6 of AD Radical Architectural Drawing 2022 edited by Neil FeatureSpillerdrawing of The Machine Stops exhibition at the Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi
Battery aims to preserve important heritage stories of place identity during New Zealand’s 1860 gold rush era, exhibiting them as a dialectic conflict which is mirrored in the other drawings exhibited alongside it. This aims to re-present a seminal tale of environmental devastation as a lesson for future generations to learn from past mistakes.
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Completed specifically for The Machine Stops Exhibition, this drawing is the final in a series of 7
The Machine Stops
[thesis]
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Thesis FeaturedRecognitionSubmissionin“
MVUW2020-2021Arch(Prof)
this heritage story though the lens of an allegorical architectural project. It explores how orthographic drawing, notation strategies, and layering techniques can be assimilated together in ways that help to reawaken and preserve a heritage story about New Zealand that is soon destined to be lost forever.
Y2 Before the discovery of gold, the majority of the South Island of Aotearoa was relatively uninhabited, until the 1860s gold rush which quickly propelled the Otago region into economic prosperity. Once the gold dried up, the mining operations were quickly abandoned, with many of the workers losing their jobs as the industry declined. The historic goldfields in the Otago region now lie in various states of decay, with the industrial remnants and environmental scarring slowly being reclaimed by ecological processes.These remnants represent both the story of extracting the gold that led to the region’s prosperity, as well as the story of irreversible environmental destruction that resulted. As such, each of the man-made and natural remnants represents a different point of view regarding this complex heritage event. This design-led research investigation proposes to use speculative architectural drawing to provide a voice to each of seven unique points of view.
Using E.M. Forster’s short story “The Machine Stops”, this thesis proposes to preserve
Victoria University of Wellington nominated drawing for the Tātuhi / Drawing Architecture: Sarah Treadwell Archive
DanielSupervisorKBrown
The Allegorical Architectural Project” article in AD Emerging Talents 2021
Featured in “Idea Building” article in Architecture NZ Jan/Feb 2021
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Final experiment of
the thesis testing how useddrawingsspeculativecanbeasgeneratorsforapracticalarchitecturalintervention
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15 Lamentations Series I Pen2021and ink on paper + digital excavation
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Whistling Sisters Brewery Te Aro, Wellington
Humbugaaunderstand.
Curated, promoted & installed by author
The Flash Exhibition was mounted on 19 February 2021 at Whistling Sisters Brewery as a 1 hour pop-up. The exhibition tested how well the speculative drawings were able to convey the individual stories of the gold mining remnants of site, while also enabling the viewers to critically reflect on the overall dialectic narrative of the Homeward Bound Site.
It was a great exercise in curating and displaying the work, as well as explaining it to a variety of people from a mostly architectural background. These discussions were extremely helpful in my understanding of how people experienced the drawings, what they saw in them, as well as what they did not fully
Pop-up Exhibition
Hosted2021 by Humbugaa
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The Mineshaft drawing suspended under the lights— testing curating and display for the exhibition
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Testing how a series of curated drawings can preserve heritage stories that are destined to be lost
Periscopes 5 Finalist Feature in “Finalists Announced: Brick Bay Folly 2022” article in Architecture NZ Sept/Oct 2022
ShortlistedRecognitionTop
Brick Bay Sculpture Trust Snells Beach, Auckland
Brick2022 Bay ArchitectureFollyCompetitionThecoreconceptat the heart of this proposal is reconnecting and engaging with the natural environment. In today’s everconnected society, we are constantly reminded of how humanity is irreversibly polluting our environment, yet we are so slow to change our ways. This proposal intends to activate the architectural folly as an instrument, ‘resetting’ our perception and ‘re-engaging’ with the surrounding landscape.Thisproject proposes three periscope structures to highlight the three pillars of the natural world—sea, land, and sky—by creating points of pause along a journey of reflection. Each point of pause features a framed view through an architectural instrument that simultaneously isolates one in space and frames their view. After completing their journey through the intervention, visitors are able to piece together their own unique perception of the surrounding landscape. The three framed views act as catalytic fragments, inviting the visitor’s personal memories and experiences to fill the gaps between—forming a new, intimate perception of the natural environment as a whole.
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Physical model testing of the periscope mechanism
Collaboration with Clark Murray
21 01cover page periscopes physical model testing of the periscope mechanism
—J.W Duyvendak, “The Politics of Home”
MVUW2019Arch (Prof) Y1
MichaelTutor foster+melvilleMelvillearchitects
Co-HousingARCI411 stream
19 20 Across iso400f5.525006:29:12:24
Thin Housing
Thin housing proposes a new typology of student co-housing, targeting a demographic who can be seen as modern day nomadsconstantly moving between cold, damp and expensive flats.
“...a highly mobile person requires interchangeable homes which offer a ‘light’ consistency. In this sense their home is spread ‘thin’, where they view the road itself their favourite place.”
A parasitic intervention is proposed ontop of an existing university hall, keeping students close proximity to support services. An integrated crane allows the building to grow or shrink as yearly demand fluctuates - keeping students within the city centre and revitalising the youthful nature
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the sectionstheintervention,co-housingcraneaddingandremovingtomeetstudentdemand
23 North 06:40:36:09
Aerial view of
Essay published in “10 Stories: Writing About Architecture” 2019 by New Zealand Institute of Architects
Based in the architectural drawing stream, this project was required to engage with traditional analog methods of architectural representation.
MVUW2019Arch (Prof) Y1
ArchitecturalARCI412
Drawing Stream PeterTutor Wood
Te Papa Museum Redux
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Tasked to critique and redesign the Aotearoa’s national museum Te Papa Tongarewa, this speculative design proposes a new typology for Wellington’s waterfront site.
Situated and sunk into the Wellington fault line running directly through the site, the museum is treated as a giant seismic jointallowing the two tectonic plates to move independently while protecting the nation’s taonga.
SelectedRecognitionessay in the 2019 Warren Trust Writing Awards
Located on the Wellington fault line, the museumproposesdesignanewsuspendedinbothspaceandtime
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Testing how pieces of drawing can tell a story over different passages of time— enabling a variety of stories to emerge from the same fragment.
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If you wish to see other projects, such as practice based architecture or graphic design please contact me direct.
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Cheers, +
The works shown are primarily speculative projects, based on architectural theory and focused on architectural drawing.
Thanks for taking the time to view my architecture portfolio!
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@wdt.design+64211202430will.dutoit.11@gmail.com
