Nadine Theisz: Pre Class Introduction

Introduction to Architectural Design Studio

A piece of my creative work

A piece of my own work of which I am quite proud is a short film I made in Year 12 as part of a Cartography assignment titled ‘Sense’, with the above photo being one scene from the film. The assignment asked us to disrupt literal forms of mapping to which I responded with a digitally documented performance and installation piece exploring, or mapping, the manner in which our senses are influenced by and respond to external stimuli. I employed stimuli throughout the scenes to target and garner a reaction from the primary senses. For example, flashes of light would cause my subject’s pupils to constrict suddenly as they scrunched their eyes and faces in response to the situational change or a sudden popping of a balloon would startle an unaware subject causing them to let out a short gasp or scream. The work of Bill Viola, renowned contemporary video artist, was of significant importance for my own as I was inspired by his use of darkened eerie spaces and singular spotlights on subjects that illuminate their emotive and often pained expressions. Viola’s work often concerns the “phenomena of sense perception” and through merging video, projection and sound, I too employed these elements to greater enhance my conceptual piece. Additionally, avant- garde performance artist Marina Abramovic, provided great inspiration with her video ‘The Onion’, 1996 in which that artist continually bites into a raw onion, her eyes streaming with tears and her face contorting from the pain. In my film I had subjects eat spoonfuls of vegemite and bite into lemons as I documented their reactions, as well as up-close shots of my squishing spaghetti through my fingers with the accompanying audio, all of which received an uncomfortable and squeamish response from both subject and viewer.

A great piece of architecture

Flint House is a spectacular piece of architecture commissioned by Lord Rothschild to be the contemporary addition to the Rothschilds’ Waddesdon Estate in Buckinghamshire, UK. So much about this building demonstrates why it was chosen to be the winner of the RIBA House of the Year Award in 2015. Beneath the surrounding fields on which the house sits runs a chalk seam rich in flint, a cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, from which the building gets its name. Thus, it was the site’s geology that became instrumental in informing leading architect Charlotte Skene Catling’s decision to clad the building in this natural resource as a direct response to the landscape. The angular stepped wedges of the house, along with the self-contained annex studio, are engineered monoliths that seem to have erupted to create a rift in its countryside setting. The gradient of the flint on its exterior appears to be a geographical cross-section of the earth beneath it as the dark unknapped lumps of flint at the base fade seamlessly into the refined white chalk at the apex, a testament to the stonemasons’ craftsmanship. One can experience this feeling of ascension from the earth’s surface by walking up the rooftop steps to terraces that allow for a full appreciation for the panoramic view. An unexpected surprise is a small internal river, an updated answer to the grotto, that carves out a nook lined by flint in its most virgin form, raw and still covered in chalk creating an invitingly textural and tactile surface. This building epitomises juxtaposition, exhibiting traditional materials and techniques in an uber-modern design, it is both a dramatic structure that demands attention yet it blends so harmoniously with the landscape.

References:

ArchDaily. (2015). Flint House / Skene Catling de la Peña. [online] Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/771369/flint-house-skene-catling-de-la-pena [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Wainwright, O. (2015). Flint House: the building that must be stroked. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2015/jul/10/flint-house-waddesdon-manor-rothschild-skene-catling-de-la-pena [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Waddesdon Manor. (n.d.). Flint House - Waddesdon Manor. [online] Available at: https://waddesdon.org.uk/your-visit/grounds/flint-house/ [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

Vogue. (2016). Inside Lord Jacob Rothschild’s Monolithic English Country Estate. [online] Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/lord-jacob-rothschild-english-estate [Accessed 22 Feb. 2018].

An original photograph of something beautiful

Last year I travelled for three months along the southern coastline of Europe and one city that left a lasting impression was Seville, the capital of the Andalusian region of Spain. The city as a whole was captivating being so rich in the traditional culture of flamenco dancing and cuisine, and an overall feeling of vibrancy from the large student population, but it was the architecture that truly sparked my interest. There are a remarkable number of striking structures dotted around the city, an eclectic mix of the Gothic Cathedral, Baroque Del Salvador Church, and the mixed Mudejár and Renaissance Revival style of the Plaza de España to name but a few. Walking through Seville allows one to experience a physical embodiment of the city’s historical evolution. Above all, it was the Real Alcázar de Sevilla that captivated me most for it was so unique to anywhere I had visited before. The UNESCO World Heritage listed site is a monumental complex of a royal palace, gardens, fountains, and courtyards, which over its eleven centuries in existence, has seen countless renovations that reflect the respective style of the time. It is an architectural microcosm of Seville as a whole, demonstrating an amalgam of Islamic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements, with the original Moorish influence of Mudejár style remaining overwhelmingly breathtaking. Every archway, every niche, every surface of this building is of supreme craftsmanship and provided no shortage of intriguing moments to capture. This is just one of many photographs I took during my visit and while the palace is abundant in intricate stone carvings or decorative tiles, I found beauty in the simplicity of these archways and the pattern created as the sunlight flooded through. This nook of the complex was one of the few over its vast area that did not have clusters of tourists streaming through and I believe the serenity that I experienced in that moment is expressed in my photograph.

Revival Cycles: Moto Guzzi 850

http://bobberinspiration.com/post/88670444167/moto-guzzi-850-beto-by-revival-cycles