A shifting facade : an exploration of the zone between actual and illusionary form

The starting point for this project was in the reflections upon modernist glass fa‚àövüades. Throughout this research the reference to reflections developed into a broader critical interrogation and investigation into the possibilities of glass within other architectural spaces. The aim has been to develop both a visual and working methodology which could speak from within, and about, particular architectural spaces; with the intention to disrupt the formalised architectural grid by distorting our perception of architecture as being contained. By taking what is intrinsic to external glass architecture - a visual combination of stable and fragile forms - into utilitarian architectural spaces, I sought to create non-static readings of otherwise static spaces. The ultimate aim being to create multiple reflections that could suggest a constructed space that seemed sturdy, but with the illusion of being able to shift or collapse at any moment. Throughout this project I have explored the possibilities of combining float glass and stainless steel through the process of kiln-forming. I experimented with installation strategies to attach these materials directly to the architectural elements they reference, so the work seems to come from its architectural source before breaking away and disrupting it. The resulting works falls into three categories: architectural installations, objects and large-scale public art. The installations in the final submission exhibition are arranged as a collection of ideas and possibilities for utilitarian architectural spaces, which could be applied on a larger-scale. The two public art commissions see the accumulation of the studio research within actual architectural spaces, and the objects are experiments into industrial processes and prototypes. The contextual research focused mainly on the glass fa‚àövüade and the critique and interpretation of it. This project finds a solid grounding in both the questioning of, and admiration for, modernist glass architecture, particularity Mies van der Rohe; looking at his glass skyscraper and Barcelona Pavilion as case studies. Leading on from this I explored the new sensibility of post modernist and contemporary glass architecture along with the Deconstructivist architects of the 1980's who collapsed and questioned architectural structure. A sculptural influence on the project has been Dan Graham and his critique of glass within architecture through his 'pavilion' series, along with artists Mary Schaffer and Christopher Wilmarth who explore the potential use of glass in an innovative and sculptural way. The installation of glass within architectural space has been researched through Australian artists Janet Laurence, Wendy Mills and Maureen Cahill.