Inspired by Architecture: September 1-8, 2022
The Mission:
Choose a favorite architect, favorite building, or favorite architectural style in general. Let that architecture inspire you to create art of any kind you choose - a drawing, a painting, a poem, a craft, photography, whatever. Include a photo of the architecture that inspired you with your submission, so we can see how it is reflected in your art. Bonus points if you tell us what it is you love about that particular architecture.
The Submissions:
by Heart of Darkness
Hands down, Jeanne Gang and her work with Studio Gang on the Aqua Tower in Chicago. It was a building I was excited about before it was ever built - at the time it was the tallest building by a woman and I believe the largest commission awarded to a woman in architecture. I had seen so many renderings of it that when I finally got to see it finished, in person, it felt like a mirage. It changes from every angle and it’s such a basic concept - by slightly changing all the cantilevered balconies, the building appears to wash in and out like a wave, but still so striking. It was built as I was coming out of undergrad and heading into my first go at adult life so I think part of my love for it is related to the nostalgia for that time of my life.
So good.
(The stairs at the CAC in Cincinnati/Zaha Hadid were a close second! FLW’s Unity Temple might have been third, but I also considered just saying the entire town of Columbus, Indiana…)
by Captain Quillard
Harpa concert hall in Rekjavik, Iceland. Designed by a Danish architecture firm in co-operation with Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. Neither the architect nor the building itself probably rank among my very favorite pieces of architecture, but this place has been on the brain lately, as I took a leap this week and booked myself a trip to Iceland next spring. (!) In addition to adventuring around the landscape of the country, I’ll be seeing one of my favorite bands in the Eldborg Hall inside this building. It looks beautiful from photos, and I love the geodesic structure that is made to evoke the balsalt columns seen throughout Iceland. Really looking forward to seeing it in person, though honestly I still can’t believe I’m going.
I had hoped to try to do something 3D - sculpture, craft, whatever - but was short on time this week, so I ended up making some abstract art using the geodesic shape seen in Harpa’s design. I tried to use colors that gave a sense of the Northern Lights and night sky, along with an earthyish tone to play on the natural balsalt columns. The upward perspective is an attempt to evoke those same columns, other natural mountains/volcanos/etc. in Iceland, and the flow of its massive waterfalls cascading over green cliffs. Together, it all is essentially the fever dream of my future Icelandic travels and concert experience that I’ve been having nightly since I booked the flight.
by Anonymous Frau Redux
It’s Anonymous Frau Redux, again.
Officially I have been only one architectural tour. It was in Chicago where I heard and learned the term flying buttresses.
There is not a particular style of architecture I’ve studied but historical places make me pause- to learn.
Locally there is a place I toured more than 20 years ago when it was being renovated and some of the original structure remained untouched. Windows of the turret corner rooms actually curved just like the building. Looking out of them was fascinating as images stretched and compressed in places. Not sure if they remain today.
A small cardboard, pipe cleaner, tissue paper design with blue tablecloth backdrop were used. It doesn’t look quite as good as my grade school castle. Used photo settings to make it a bit more interesting. The other is an emoji rendering.
“The Been-right-there Mansion”
Next Week’s Assignment:
Fridge Magnet Poetry:
Use any number of the words below in any order to create a poem. Subject, length, etc. are all your choice, but you must use these words and only these words.
