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Vernacular Creature

Architectural Model
2009 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Using thatch in reference to vernacular English architecture, this low-tech cabin explores notions of the ‘primitive hut’ and organic forms of shelter. The ‘eye’ of the cabin resembles the overhanging eaves of a traditional thatched roof. From above, timed canisters would release an oozing liquid that gradually envelops this womb-like structure and transforms it into an emphatically modern ‘white cube’.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleVernacular Creature (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Balsa wood, doormat, silicone, silver coloured paper, steel wire
Brief description
Model for 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces exhibition, by Triptyque Architecture, 2009.
Physical description
A cube made out of a series of batons of balsa wood, covered on the exterior with sheets of doormat and splatters of white silicone, supported by four balsa wood legs. The cube contains a cylindrical structure made of balsa wood strips and has a circular opening on its front and a square opening on its top revealing this structure within. A separate square of balsa wood covers the opening on the top of the cube and forms the base for four cylinders, made out of silver paper and connected to each other by pieces of steel wire, and a balsa wood staircase is positioned next to the circular opening on the front of the cube.
Dimensions
  • Height: 470mm
  • Width: 230mm
  • Depth: 230mm
Style
Summary
Using the landscape of the Museum as a test site, the V&A invited nineteen architects to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat. Responding to specific locations in the Museum, the architects explored themes such as study, work, play, performance and contemplation. Seven of the proposals were then selected for construction at full-scale.

These projects promoted an attitude to architecture where to 'dwell' meant something more than simply to find shelter. Each building invited the participation of the viewer. These immersive environments reawakened people's ability to inhabit architectural space on both a physical and an emotional level.

Using thatch in reference to vernacular English architecture, this low-tech cabin explores notions of the ‘primitive hut’ and organic forms of shelter. The ‘eye’ of the cabin resembles the overhanging eaves of a traditional thatched roof. From above, timed canisters would release an oozing liquid that gradually envelops this womb-like structure and transforms it into an emphatically modern ‘white cube’.
Bibliographic reference
Abraham Thomas, 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces (London: V&A publications, 2010)
Collection
Accession number
E.1434-2010

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Record createdFebruary 1, 2011
Record URL
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