Models, Architecture, Making, Research:

40 A House for the Sovereign of Shadows

In the Sovereign’s house, no class or type of shadow is overlooked, no shadowy characteristic ignored. Faint shadows just clinging to the surface of curving walls or crisp shadows thrown across a floor by strong light are deemed equal to seductive shadows barely discernible in mysterious mist. They are welcomed regardless of the time of day and the angle of the sun; hints of shadows mislaid on overcast days and those weakly produced by artificial or reflected lights, are likewise treasured. Any shadows are offered a home; all belong within the embrace of the Sovereign – even tiny shadows cast by surface imperfections. Those that wish, may arrive through attachment to the curved metal accumulation screen and leave using the now worn directional dispersion oscillator atop the tower.

This tallest building has many calm spaces offering rest and respite for shadows. The small building houses comfortably fitted tiered vaults for treasured, often historic, shadows frequently of the varieties once hatched by architectural sciagraphers and still to be found in faded texts. The Sovereign’s offices, the residential areas for family members, the areas for staff, and the curators’ principal laboratories occupy the L-shaped building entered through a pair of blue doors in the golden entry cavern. Workshops for shadow restoration and the links between the buildings are securely housed underground where the light is controlled and carefully diffused. Shadows from past and present war zones that have found their way to this sanctuary, often through the agency of others, may need extensive care, and the Sovereign ensures there is a skilled team available for this support. Sheltering the lower of the two buildings are the three great arcs held aloft in turn on a tube, a pole, a mast, a pipe, and a hollow column – each with an extensible hexagonal capping fitment.

Architectural renderers and photographers frequently play with shadows in their image making and it was here that I began my thinking for this model. Such images have predominantly hard shadows in strong light cast by strict edges. I had in mind classic photos of Richard Neutra houses. (Although one of the most famous was Julius Schulman’s 1947 image of the Kaufmann Desert House at dusk with artificial light.)

In April 2021 I had thought of producing a house for the Sovereign of Transitory Things, a title self-ascribed by Montesquiou in Julian Barnes’ book the Man in the Red Coat (p64). There is a sketch of a fortress-like house suitable for corralling transitory things. This morphed in my thinking into transitory shadows.

The inspiration in mind near the outset was the skilled exactitude of Hilversum Town Hall, and I thought I would riff on Willem Marinus Dudock’s 1931 masterpiece although I could not explore the interiors that are so remarkable to visit. To this end I undertook a few drawings because the model would require some precision and clear relationships. The first blocks of Huon Pine I cut were exploring this idea. Two things led development away from Hilversum. First, only hard straight shadows were produced – although I explored adding some softening materials and fooled with assembling random-object charcoal-coloured sunscreens (and curving a block behind a screen to bend shadows). The second issue was the need to have the blocks and particularly the intended roof (or two) produced elsewhere with cabinet maker precision because I have no table saw. This need stepped beyond the original stipulation of my entire model making project that I be able to make things myself, not be directing the making of others on my behalf, or programming a machine to do the making. In either instance ‘designing’ is required to be undertaken prior to making – the two would be unable to be enmeshed and symbiotic activities. I thus had two grounds for thinking further about shadow types. The model soon embraced more subtle shadows.

Throughout, I was continuously wondering about differing roof forms and mocked-up endlessly unsatisfactory shapes to shade, cast shadows with particular and intended characteristics, and to connect elements as they evolved in the model. For a considerable period, a segment of lace doily (formerly my mother’s) covered a courtyard. It was always unsatisfactory in differing ways. A lack of shadowy subtlety was often present; the whole was decluttered.

Base: 163mm x 131mm. Model: 165mm x 135mm. Height: 150mm.
Initiated: 4 September 2021. Constructed: 17 October 2021 – 29 March 2023.