Unique Instruments, Expectant Spaces
Hall McKnight were invited to participate in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Freespace, curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. The exhibition opened on 26th May 2018 and continues until 25th November 2018. The exhibit, designed specifically for the Biennale, is located within the Corderie Building, at the Arsenale.
The Freespace manifesto developed by the curators noted that, among many attributes, Freespace addresses the ‘unspoken wishes of strangers’. In developing our proposal for the Biennale we considered how to respond as architects to make spaces that address the unarticulated desires, needs and pleasures of people that we do not know and are unlikely to meet. In the preface to The Portrait of a Lady,1908, Henry James describes a metaphorical house of fiction, a wall with apertures made from ‘the pressure of individual will’, a defined space from which the author watches. But they have this mark of their own that at each of them stands a figure with a pair of eyes… which forms, again and again, for observation, a unique instrument, insuring to the person making use of it an impression distinct from every other.
The creation of successful Freespace, depends upon the architect becoming adept at balancing the experience of participation and observation, seeing the world as non-architects, immersed in life, whilst interpreting this individualised experience through an architectural filter… insuring to the person making use of it an impression distinct from every other. It is our task, to bring a body of ‘felt life’ to the activity of making.
We created a Freespace for occupation, based upon the stepped gardens and courts of our proposals for a large-scale residential project at Plot 18.02 at Greenwich Peninsula. From within this real architectural space, the visitor may view a series of models of Freespaces from our current project portfolio through apertures which provide views of the models via 45-degree mirrors.
The models are contained within large vessels held within the architectural form of the piece. They have been constructed as mirror images of the proposals, as a visitor standing at one of the apertures will use a mirror to view the ‘expectant’ space. When viewed through the mirrors the models appear as the spaces we have proposed, and seem to occupy a space outside of their containing vessels – the image is projected beyond the physical limits of the piece into the ‘life’ of the Corderie.
The experience of any space is dependent on the personal history, the past life and circumstances of the viewer; it is their collection of memories that will ultimately define their personal response to a space. The view of the scheme is dependent upon a visitor looking through the aperture - these are the ‘Unique Instruments’ referred to in the title – their presence projects the experience of the spaces beyond the physical dimensions that the model occupies. The exhibit is defined by its physical edges and terraces, but the presented images are projected beyond these limits.
The sides of the vessels are inscribed with the base of the mirrored models, which, when viewed from its underside allows the proposed plan of the actual project to be revealed. As architects seeking to make successful Freespace, we must become adept at experiencing and seeing the world also as non-architects, immersed in life, whilst interpreting this individualised experience through an architectural filter. This is the challenge – to address the unspoken wishes of strangers within the plans of our projects.
The models:
Ipswich Cornhill
The Cornhill space pre-exists the buildings which now define it; neo-classical buildings of some quality, which adhere to a street pattern that was defined by topography and by the Cornhill. Our project regenerates this space for civic life. It involves conceiving of the Cornhill as a strong embedded form, and presents 4 figures that relate to the 4 original gateways of the town. On site, due for completion November 2018.
King’s College Quadrangle
The Quadrangle was defined by Sir William Chambers in 1875 for the greater plan of Somerset House. The construction of the College corrupted the symmetry of this plan, which is subtly addressed by our proposals which gently re-assert the symmetry by the placing of an oculus on the ‘lost’ axis. Our project involves the design of this external space, and the refurbishment of two floors of accommodation below to provide a new school of engineering. On site, due for completion June 2020.
The Yellow Pavilion
The model provides an interior view of a temporary, festive pavilion that was erected at King’s Cross as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2015.
Entrance, St Mary’s Wantage
The model shows the arched openings which provide seats from which people can view the setting of a nineteenth century Anglican convent in Oxfordshire. The foyer provides a new public-facing entrance that facilitates public access to the conference venue, office space and accommodation, whilst allowing the everyday life at the convent to continue.
