Paper Buildings

22.6.20

Two of my childhood visits to model villages.

My project has become Model Village, a series of abstract representations of the buildings and structures we dwell in.
   The same research continues to motivate this altered direction, and the studio work has reduced in physical size, at least for the moment. It has come about through a combination of lockdown restrictions and media coverage of housing densification and overcrowding as Covid risk factors, together with the research and material I had generated for Land Ground Earth Soil.

Model villages in Land Ground Earth Soil (2019).

The term Model Village relates to housing (dating back to the late 18th century) built by wealthy landowners for their workers, as well as the miniature tourist attractions I visited as a child. It evokes an idealised community, an idyll; and provides a useful lens through which to observe the distance between the ideal and the built reality.

Sketchbook pages.

I start by sketching abstracted forms of buildings and structures, stripping away as much detail as possible while retaining recognisable features. I work them into paper prototypes, and this process reveals dilemmas, and decisions to be made about criteria.
   I exclude housing and office blocks, which are too bland when translated into smaller simple shapes; but include what might otherwise have been obsolete industrial buildings, because they now contain apartments, offices and retail. Crucially, I also include temporary static structures like tents, with uses ranging starkly from homelessness to festivals and glamping.