"Surfaces to Flowers. Masses to Flesh"
House for an Artist. Vienna, Austria
The project is a house for an artist in residence and the transformation of the Secession Hall in Vienna. It focuses on the simulation of disturbing heavy matter, while generating new relationships out of contrasting elements.The documentary shows the life cycle of the new addition to the Secession Hall throughout a winter day in Vienna during the stay of an artist.
Like the piercings on the exterior shell, the house is encrusted into the Secession Building. Its primary structural elements remain untouched and intersect into the house while the roof and walls are booleaned by the new addition. There is only one entrance through a bridge connecting to a back door of the Secession, which provides direct access to the main exhibition space. The split floor slabs and multiple stairs not only provide different levels of privacy but also stimulate circulation and surprise. A mixture of highly ornamented elements and intricate textures with recognizable industrial furniture and structural components produces a new kind of coherence. The 597 piercings on the exteriors, which connect the skins, become elongated structural columns, lighting fixtures, mechanical piping and furniture in the interior.
The contrast between opacity and transparency, reflectivity and muteness, provides glimpses of alternative atmospheres within the same space, which provoke an uncomfortable ambiguity between fiction and reality. The glass transitions into patterns according to mood and light, generating theatrical effects while distorting the reading of the figure.
Instructors: Hernan Diaz Alonso with Ivan Bernal
SCI-Arc // Spring 2015
