F. Eight Houses of
In 2015, starting with the production of eight bases cut from a piece of salvaged timber, I decided I would make some works that were more overtly architectural than the sets of models I had been making post 2007. Inventing and rejecting a few alternative ideas, I settled on a collection of refurbished titles which had antecedents over a decade old, and which had variously been called either temples or chambers. They now manifested under the rubric of ‘House of …’ as it seemed a term of greater ambiguity and flexibility. As previously, and subsequently, the entertainment of generating titles results in excess.
Ruminations about titles draws attention to the reality that the title provides a broad brief for the work. Having decided to build something with a given title, in each instance I needed some concept of what one might be if I was to make a model at least loosely deriving from it. This was more-or-less a return to the strategies I employed in the Prelude set of pavilions.
The architectural input varied from exploring a period of architecture – for example Arts and Crafts – to quotes from particular buildings, to deriving characteristics from one building or type. Mostly the title preceded any form-giving, but there were also instances of formal ideas in search of a title or evolving and refining together.
34 House of Order Allusions
Over history, many building forms have been associated with attempts to instil and maintain order: castles, forts, prisons, courthouses are referenced in this model. I did not set out to deal with such ideas. In this case there was no initial title. My fascinations were with some forms that I did not see a relation between until part way through the process of making.
The base shows signs of the difficult terrains where castles and forts are positioned. There is a castle tower, maybe from eight centuries ago in Scotland, perhaps it is a weird restoration of Urquhart Castle above Loch Ness creeping down the terrain on which it sits; its base is unusual, but all such instances are unique. Its red door is uncelebrated. It has fairly plausible high windows in its thick masonry below a roof that does not belong on such a tower. It could be judged a fanciful addition.
The other tower-like structure began life in my only sketch as something from a Bavarian fairy story, maybe a wandering tower from Neuschwanstein Castle (built from 1868 until 1892). Behind it, in this scribble, was an enigmatic sphere. The tower evolved into something much tougher. Images of the WW2 Maunsell Sea Forts came to mind or, more particularly, Flakturm VIII G-Tower in Arenberg Park, Vienna (c1942), or other Flak Towers.
Both the tower and the fledgling gas tank were flavoured by a long-held interest in the images of Bernd and Hilla Becher. The tank form was enriched by crossing it with something of the Bordeaux Law Courts (1992-98) by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Its form evolved further to also suggest a seed pod. The Bordeaux Law Courts – another effort at order – have framework around them, as do many of the structures photographed by the Bechers.
A final nod to order is the brass pipe connecting the two towers. I had in mind The Bridge of Sighs in Venice (opened 1602) spanning from the interrogation chambers in the Doge’s Palace to the New Prisons. Formally, this is dissimilar; the journeys might elicit parallels of fear. Visually, the connecting tubes in John M Johansen’s 1970 (now demolished) Mummers Theatre Building, Oklahoma City, is referenced.
Base: 119mm x 102mm. Model: 141mm x 108mm. Height: 133mm.
Initiated: February 2016. Constructed: 7 July 2017 – 8 January 2018.