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On Fragments Georgia Mactaggart
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1. Candalepas Associates, Punchbowl Mosque, 2018
2. Mike Nichols, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ 1966
On Fragments
Georgia Mactaggart
Formwork is the term used to create a temporary mould into which concrete is poured. The formwork is removed to reveal the shape that will endure.
In the essay “Mosque Concrete”, Adrian Curtin details the construction of the Punchbowl Mosque in Sydney by architect’s Candalepas Associates. The grand concrete structure heavily depended on meticulous formwork. Curtain explains that the prayer hall took a “full day to pump the volume of concrete into the complex geometry of the mosque’s interior formwork.” He describes the arduous task of cleaning and polishing the domed formwork every day to secure the highly finished surface. This attention to detail was reflected in the setout of joints that would appear across the surface of the mosque, and the moderation of the lines impact by a and the moderation of the lines impact by a seemingly impossible 2mm tolerance between each plywood section of formwork.
The concept of formwork for construction can be used as a metaphor for developing relationships. Parameters are defined and determined in the context of the day’s events, set in to place by mutual agreement (either explicit or implied). Then it is up to the individual’s interpretation as to what is acceptable behaviour within those parameters. In Mike Nichols, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), the lead couple Martha and George (played by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) by consensus create a space in which their fictional son is formed. They assume the role of parents that observe and interpret the actions of others, creating a unique maternal and paternal devotion that sustains the child’s illusion. This constructed relationship dissolves once their son ‘dies’, but the violent affection they have maintained for each other suggests they are incapable of anything else. This ruinous collapse of both form and formwork prompts Martha to admit to being afraid of Virginia Woolf.
