BSc Unit 4 Yr 2: Kun Bi, Theclalin Chung, (Mollie) Yue Gao, Aaron Ho, Rebecca Li, Wendy Lin, Sirisan Nivatvongs, Tian Qin, Yr 3: Nicholas Blomstrand, Gladys Ching, Nicholas Elias, Dimple Rana
Character Building ‘Talent is developed in quiet places; character in the full current of life.’ Goethe. The structures of the Fallas festival (Valencia) combine architecture of popular parody with sophisticated systems of construction and industrial quantities of gunpowder, all integral to the creation of architectureas-ceremony. Gunpowder becomes the catalyst for the expression of a celebratory architecture during Fallas. In the seventeenth century it was considered to be the explosive force by which the muscles of the body moved. The architecture of “Character” forms at the interface of event, social collectivity and structure. In the modern cityscape we also see structures created in anticipation of an event that might happen. The build up, preparation and enactment of a festival might be contrasted to the predictive studies and analytical games played by designers and technicians in relation to preventing or encouraging an expected occurrence. We may then see architectures that appear ahead, or behind the curve, capturing a moment of hysteria or speculating on the future of its context. We embraced the relationship between character and context, action and reaction, and the development of visual languages that express this dialogue between them. Unit 4 investigated the spatial relationships, the protagonists, the physical construction, the objects, the choreography and any other devices that are used to manifest an occasion, event or festivity. We found inspiration in the tactile nature of the event, the precise craft of the décor, the dress codes, rules of etiquette, lavish behaviours, competition, international courtship, and the myth.
Ana Monrabal-Cook & Luke Pearson
Clockwise from top: Nicholas Blomstrand, Team Sky Base Camp Lanzarote; Nicholas Blomstrand; Gladys Ching, Early warning systems: Teide Sacrificial Visitor Centre Tenerife; Gladys Ching; Wendy Lin, Weight Test Model for a Canary Island Fish Restaurant, Tenerife.