Thursday, 22 March 2012

folie project: final panels.




These are the 3 A1 final folie design panels that were submitted. 

OUR DESIGN STATEMENT:  In today’s society, people’s self-perspective is one of high importance, inflated ego, and a general feeling that the world revolves around them. With the advent of new technology and social media, it is now easier for people to communicate their ideas and feelings to a mass audience. More than ever before, society is able to share irrelevant information and personal details through this new online forum. The folie proposal is a response to this current social issue.

Approaching Howard Smith Wharves, the folie appears as a solid, heavy mass at the base of the cliff face. Constructed of concrete and metallic cubes, it reflects the surrounding cliffs and river.  As one descends into the folie, the intimidating structure is fully realised. The dimly-lit, stark interior of solid and artificial concrete blocks overwhelms the occupants. Looking up through the small shaft in the roof, one is positioned to view the sheer scale of the intimidating cliff face. Like the fascist architecture of Nazi Germany, the folie represses the individual, stimulating a sense of insignificance and irrelevance.
  
A small screen, previously thought to be concrete, flickers to life, providing real-time imagery of the occupants. Another screen illuminates, sparking a chain reaction in which screens appear from all sides. Each projects footage of historic and current world events focusing on themes of destruction and devastation, but also highlighting significant human achievements. More than a folie, the space is in fact an art installation, a curated museum where footage is regularly updated.  

The users are confronted and overwhelmed by both the architecture and the footage. Their current life now doesn’t seem so significant. As the screens black out and the space once again dims, the occupants are left with one heavy realisation: they are not the centre of the universe.

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