Spatial Narrative: A room for a busy housewife to take a break and dream of the day she will travel the world.
(The concept i transferred over from my painting was how Internationalisation can serve as an inspirational and spiritual refuge from tiresome reality)
Context: Suburb of low lying houses and narrow blocks but on high land. Therefore there are unrestricted views to the North as the surburb is situated on a cliff edge.
Context: Suburb of low lying houses and narrow blocks but on high land. Therefore there are unrestricted views to the North as the surburb is situated on a cliff edge.
Entrance to house faces the south and is extremely narrow, almost lost behind the two imposing walls. They appear to reach out to the occupant, as if to swallow her into the domestic confinement.
Meanwhile the north is situated on a cliff edge with unrestricted sunlight and views. Her room is located there, with a more intimate heigh level of 3m as opposed to 5m+ so she doesn't feel intimidated and overwhelmed by the space. She is reconnected with the outside world and can seek both relaxation and inspiration.
Narrow entrance
Domestic confinement is illustrated through:
1. thick imprisoning walls to suggest no escape from house work
2. entire floor plan is covered in stairs of 300mm tread which creates a fast rhythm to the space - suggests no rest, where one workstation flows onto the next. It is an endless cycle of work
3. Openings are few and possible only because the wall has been carved away to form furniture for workstations (clothing line, kitchen bench, work table). Therefore light and work are inseaparable notions - windows are not a luxury or privelage. This is reinforced through their high placement, so she can not have views of the outside. She is entirely separated from the world and its opportunities.
Detail of kitchen workstation. The dimensions of her workstations are quite cramped and only just large enough for her to perform tasks. Again no luxury or comfort.
Her release from such a stressful and exhausting space begins on the set of curved stairs:
1. The use of semi-translucent material captures and reflects the overhead light source so the stairs appear to glow
2. Treads are 1000m so she can walk at her own pace and slow down
3. Risers decrease as she ascends to illustrate how easily she can glide into her refuge
4. Surrounding balustrades are ordered and straight, as opposed to disorderly and unstable (see previous photos of interior)
5. Thick walls surrounded her room are protective as opposed to confining
6. Introduction of curves to rectilinear space suggests a natural and feminine retreat, as opposed to the mechanistic and lifeless ordeal of performing housework
