project three: final details.

The Loft Gallery

A melting pot of photography, sculpture and oil paintings.

Site: Newtown.

I believe one of the most significant problems encountered by art galleries is the lack of fluid connection between the spaces. Galleries (and museums) have a notorious reputation for being difficult to navigate through, often causing visitors to backtrack their steps in order to figure out where they are, or even causing them to miss particular gallery spaces altogether.

While wandering and meandering aimlessly through art galleries is encouraged and even potentially enjoyable, I feel it is important for there to be a sequence to which visitors can follow and make sure they cover all the gallery spaces without feeling any confusion. This is especially important for a private art gallery, as it is acts as both a business and a display space. All of the spaces in the gallery should connect with one another in fluid motion.

I decided to situate the entrance at the side, as I want to maximise the exposure of window displays to the street in the main facade. I want the office by the entrance, as it enables the gallery owner to make sales in his office and also greet incoming visitors simultaneously (and keep an eye on people exiting the gallery).

The main gallery space will be a circular shaped room where people can gather to look at larger art installments and a few sculptures. This space would be ideal for showcase evenings, as it is comfortable and easy to move around in, has an elevated ceiling that spans two levels and allows catering staff to move freely amongst guests to access other parts of the gallery. All the smaller display spaces are connected to and stem from the main gallery.

The kitchen/storage spaces are located on ground floor at the back of the gallery to allow back lane access and for ease of delivery. A wall divider separates the main gallery spaces and the casual lounge areas to allow for some privacy and also to distinguish the display space from living spaces.

A set of stairs curl around the side of the main gallery and lead to the first floor where there is access to an open rooftop courtyard for sculptures and for outdoor gathering (i.e. good for sunny winter days). The private living quarters and private storage are situated at the back of the first floor, with a dividing wall for privacy. The workshop/studio lies between the private area (with attached access to the private storage room) and the outdoor courtyard, as it is used by the gallery owner, but can also be hired out to the public. I deliberately designed the indoor balcony to wind in a circular way around the main gallery so there is a view of the main gallery space from the floor above, and also to segregate private/public. 

project three: final drawings.

Plan (ground floor) - 1:100

Plan (ground floor) - 1:100

WITH ROOM TAGS

 Plan (first floor) - 1:100

 Plan (first floor) - 1:100

WITH ROOM TAGS

 

Section 1 - 1:100

Section 2 - 1:100

Rendered Section (main gallery) - 1:50

Rendered Plan (main gallery) - 1:50

Vignette

project three: final model.

Site model (materials): 3mm box board, 3mm grey card.

Gallery model: 1mm white card.

Adhesive: UHU All-Purpose Adhesive.

Tools: Cutting blade, cutting board, ruler.

site three

I was drawn to site three because of its dimensions and the fact that it had a rear access lane. I wanted to the gallery to have maximum exposure to the street (site two has more street exposure, however we were advised not to use site two unless we had a very good reason) and I wanted to work with the natural angle of the site. The rear access lane is a bonus for delivery of art and other goods, and for catering staff to arrive/depart.

precedents & inspirations.

I was interested in the way geometric shapes come together to form real world objects. We live amongst shapes, we move within shapes, we inhabit shapes that are aesthetically pleasing (or at least we want to).

project three.

details: final submission.

Painting:

The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer

1666, oil on canvas, 130 cm × 110 cm

Narrative:

A vanity room for a retired actress obsessed with preserving her youth.

Site: 

On a cliff in a small town in New Zealand - 'big fish, small pond' - hidden on the outskirts of a dense forest; exposed to sunlight, weather changes and the elements.

Concept: 

Two vanity spaces for the retired actress. Internalised fear of ageing through the use of a designated mirror room in which the actress gazes at herself and nitpick's her physical appearance, and the suspended mirror hanging from the ceiling of her dressing room (as a victim of her own circumstance, she puts pressure on herself). Floor to ceiling blinds cast lengthy shadows across her vanity room throughout the duration of the day, reminding her of time passing her by as natural weathering of her spaces occur due to the openess of the rooms.

model: final submission.

drawings: final submission.

conceptualisation.

The term 'limelight' refers to both being the focus of public attention, and the type of stage lighting used in theatres and music halls. In The Art of Painting, Vermeer focuses most of natural sunlight on the woman - the subject of the painter's artwork who is about to be preserved in a painting.

There are two internal vanity spaces for the subject of the painting, and the subject of my narrative - a retired actress who is unable to let go of her youth. She craves to be youthfully beautiful and the center of attention once more - the limelight, the belle of the ball, the star of the show! But alas, the passing of time has taken its toll on her. She has become an ageing beauty who refuses to let her physical appearance change au naturale.

The plan and sections of the vanity rooms are the same - putting forth the idea that no matter how much one tries to mask age through the decoration of physical appearace, one's biological body clock will always tell the truth. The smaller room has shutter-windows facing a southerly direction, never allowing any direct sunlight inside. It contains floor to ceiling mirrors on two walls and is elevated on a platform, allowing the subject of the narrative to pace around the room gazing at her reflection, posing and overanalysing her appearance, but never being exposed to too much light in case they expose the signs of ageing.

The larger space is a very large open area with barely any walls - very exposed to the weather and elements.  Natural weathering of the vanity space occurs as the actress ages. In the center of the room is the actress's makeup table, elevated on a platform and surrounded by a costume rack that runs along the back wall and halfway along the side. The vertical blinds on the north-eastern front cast shadows which move across the room as each day passes by, reminding the actress that ageing is unavoidable. A giant mirror is suspended from the ceiling - a metaphor for the pressure the actress puts on herself.

narrative.

A vanity room for a retired actress obsessed with preserving her youth.

What is a painting but a means to immortalise something in a particular sector of time? The subject of any painting is forever preserved in a moment in time, never ageing, forever frozen and preserved in a single state, while real life viewers come and go, unable to escape the grasps of age and mortality.

painting analysis.

A burst of bright sunlight emanates from a large unseen window, basking the subject of the painting in a soft, warm glow. She sits in a billowy blue dress, poised, cradling a book in one arm and holding a thin trumpet in her other. A laurel wreath decorated with blue flowers is set around her head, from which her golden curls fall to just above her shoulder. Her gaze does not meet with the painter's, for she is looking at the mask on the table, hidden beneath an assortment of random objects. The painter sits on his stool, brush in hand, feet set firmly on the floor tiles, painting his muse. His focus, his attention, his eyes are only on her - his purpose is to immortalise her beauty with his skill, his paintbrush and his canvas. A large, thick curtain veils part of the scene (the window area), as though shielding viewers from something just... out... of.. sight...

17th century Dutch painting & site location.

The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer

(also know as The Allegory of Painting, or Painter in his Studio)

1666, oil on canvas, 130 cm × 110 cm

This was one of Vermeer's own favourite paintings. The painter depicted in the painting is said to be a self-portrait of Vermeer himself, and the subject of the painting is a representation of Clio, the Muse of History.

Site: New Zealand, somewhere with lots of natural flora coverage and a cliff face.

project two.

MODEL: final submission.

model material: balsa wood (1mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3.5mm, 5mm)
adhesive: PVA glue.
tools of the trade: stanley knife, working blade, metal ruler, cutting board, pencil, eraser, set square, protractor, bare hands.
site material: MDF board, 12mm.

POCHE: ground floor, first floor and section.

Poche renderings of light flow through the house.

Ground floor.

First floor.

Section.

PARTI: plans and section.