CREATIVE CAST
— PORTFOLIO
Architecture
Cast architectural models inhabit the fine line between art and architecture. Welcomed into homes as if they are sculptures, these once functional objects exist somewhere between inconclusiveness and completeness, and reach into our unconscious to provoke a multitude of interpretations. Does it have purpose? What does it represent? What is its scale? How was it made?
The enigma of cast objects, in particular scale models, has fascinated artists, craftsmen and collectors for centuries. Concrete or plaster casting has long been compared with archaeology or geology: Le Corbusier famously lined the formwork of his béton brut buildings with shells; Constantin Brâncuși, described the unconscious and archaeological dialogue between mould and cast.
To cast literally means to throw. To send something (forcefully) in a specified direction, but with an uncertain conclusion. The art of the craft lies more with designing what will not be there, than what will. It is the alchemical process of casting that transforms them from object to artefact.
Enjoy this meditation on moulds and casting by Justine Bell in Ark Journal VOL IV.
IMAGE (TOP) MARY DUGGAN ARCHITECTS, CAMPUS, plaster model 1:500
CASE STUDY
— PERIOD PIECES
In the unique surroundings of the house created by Danish sculptor Rikard Axel Poulsen (1887-1972) furniture, lighting and homewares by contemporary designers exhibit their serene poise, the avant-garde flanked by the archaic to create layers of history.
CULTIVATING PATINA
How to create a newly built house that feels comfortably familiar and as burnished as the well-loved objects that move with the owners? Designer Elisabeth Snejbjerg and former architect now photographer Mikael Bonde after 25 years in Copenhagen moved to the country near Aarhus to a house they designed and built among trees.
BACKYARD REFUGE
Small but perfectly matched, two residences in a courtyard are reduced to the essentials using quality materials and maximum light to create welcoming tranquillity.
CREATIVE CAST — PORTFOLIO
Architecture
Cast architectural models inhabit the fine line between art and architecture. Welcomed into homes as if they are sculptures, these once functional objects exist somewhere between inconclusiveness and completeness, and reach into our unconscious to provoke a multitude of interpretations. Does it have purpose? What does it represent? What is its scale? How was it made?
The enigma of cast objects, in particular scale models, has fascinated artists, craftsmen and collectors for centuries. Concrete or plaster casting has long been compared with archaeology or geology: Le Corbusier famously lined the formwork of his béton brut buildings with shells; Constantin Brâncuși, described the unconscious and archaeological dialogue between mould and cast.
To cast literally means to throw. To send something (forcefully) in a specified direction, but with an uncertain conclusion. The art of the craft lies more with designing what will not be there, than what will. It is the alchemical process of casting that transforms them from object to artefact.
Enjoy this meditation on moulds and casting by Justine Bell in Ark Journal VOL IV.
IMAGE (TOP) MARY DUGGAN ARCHITECTS, CAMPUS, plaster model 1:500