A Studio/ Retreat for Alan Rath
Honolulu, Hawaii
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
| Design of a studio/ retreat for Alan Rath, a computer sculpture. The goal is to find and establish a synthesis between architecture--as a built environment--and the artist's philosophy and body of work. |
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The
Artist.
"Alan Rath...is an artist who trained as an electrical engineer. As such, he has been able to assert the power and potential of the individual in a technological world. His sculptures are homemade, critical alter egos to the sleek, efficient machines that surround us in daily life. The result is a body of work that adresses the psychological impact of technology on our individual lives." (Alan Rath) |
| A Rational Explosion of Space.
Alan Rath concedes that a work of art should be something that we can live with, something that is very active and not a static object. The floor layout has two distinct but converging axial directions that control and organize the different functional spaces of the house. Architectonic forms and details add dynamism to the overall exterior composition while the juxtaposition of external finish materials and the building's structural members breaks conventional idioms and creates a dialogue in the expression of modern materials and technology. Symbolism.
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Solitary
Box: Trapped in a Mechanized World.
A vantage point overlooking a nearby forest; a message to the artist--the irony of life as life continues to evolve and revolve around technological advancement. While at the "box", one feels vulnerable as the person is unwittingly trapped or threatened by the "precarious instability" of the cantilevered structure--a mechanical structure that seems to have been extended too far out from its support; hence, defying the logic of structure and mechanics. Feeling uneasy, the person is no longer in control of the environment. |
