RMIT Architecture Major Project Catalogue Semester 1 2020

Processed Food Michael Lillis Supervisor: Dr. Jan van Schaik For this project, I have attempted to create a process-driven architectural language using Found items as formal inspiration. I have experimented with several aspects of this process, employing different methods to analyze and interpret the found object and exploring how to translate these studies into an architectural language.

These experiments are conducted on a proposed new multi-use site to act as a suburban hub in central Reservoir, with dining and a food market taking up a large portion of the site. To reflect the diverse nature of the people of Reservoir and responding to the dominant programs for the site I have limited myself to market produce when looking for found objects to start the design process with.

The project raises the questions: Where does the big pineapple end and architecture begin?

Does the lingering presence of the object in the final form carry weight regardless of whether the inspiration is recognized or not, and does it matter?

I would argue that the process itself becomes the defining recognizable thing. The found object is but a component of this however, obscured in the result.

The process I have developed follows a basic pattern where an object is found, that object then is described/interpreted, its potential for architecture is then assessed and the ideas are then tested in a representation of built form, through drawing. There are several methods I have experimented with for interpreting objects in 2D and 3D which generate different architectural potential. It is in the combination and intersection of these studies where the result starts to surpass the form of the found objects.