Abstract

Beyond the physical presence of architecture as a creative and culturally significant realm of endeavour, there exists a vast resource of material contributing to its production and dissemination. From the detailed drawings of documentation to the seductive glossy graphic images printed in popular media, architecture relies on visual representation. But much of the making of architecture is recorded in rough sketches, notes and prosaic correspondence required to translate intangible ideas into tangible built form. This paper will describe and discuss two series of artworks which explore these diverse resources of architecture as both inspiration and artefact for the creation of abstract architectural garments. One series uses copied fragments of early 20th century elegant handwritten letters archived within an architecture museum to create delicate tissue undergarments. These modest pieces play upon the idea of what lies beneath the fabric of architecture - discreet foundations for bigger things. The other series draws upon images from a discarded set of 1950’s domus magazines to illuminate aspects of Modernist domestic design and spatial practice through a collection of intricate butter paper aprons –symbols of the pristine nature of the modern home. Both collections are fashioned predominantly with butter paper and graphite, correlating directly with the basic tools for architectural conceptualising, while additional materials and crafting (sewing, thread, staples, plastic etc) relate to domestic processes and paraphernalia. Underlying each of these installations are themes of the everyday, the commonplace, the delicate stitching together of architectural ideas and impulses. These wearable, tearable constructions with their simultaneous attention to space, composition and surface, attempt to address connections between art and architecture.