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> Process -
Design
The Phyllotaxis proposes a new kind of spatial environment in which to encounter art, whereby the architecture does not recede from the works but aggressively encloses the works within a dense field of columns, elevating the viewing of the exhibition as a whole to an artistic experience in its own right.
The installation, built from cardboard tube columns and timber beams, responds to Velvet Box's brief for a kind of temple to art, a space that embodies the spirituality, sincerity and professionalism upon which the association has been founded, while still respecting its infinitesimal four-figure budget and being easily transportable from one location to another.
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A grove of columns . . . Inside the exhibition installationA grove of columns provides the setting for visitors to wander and encounter the works of art and fashion, arranged in tableaux throughout the structure.
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Model of the proposed installationThe project also responds to the curatorial theme of the exhibition, Awakening, taken from a chapter of Herman Hesse's novel, Siddhartha, wherein the prince leaves his spiritual mentors behind in the forest and awakens to the question of his awareness of his self in the world.
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A pregnant, a dense space . . .The architectural concept
The Phyllotaxis integrates a number of phenomenological archetypes to establish the perception of a pregnant or dense space.
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Column by column . . .A field of columns condenses the space by filling it with innumerate discrete volumes; our eyes and our paces do not dart across the space but mete out its depth slowly, column by column. Such an experience is famously produced by the Grand Mosque of Cordoba.
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The geometry of phyllotaxis – the mathematics governing the head of a pine cone or the petals of a flower – is founded on the most irrational value in number theory, yet is one of the most common orderly patterns found in nature. This geometry gives to the plan of the columns a sense of abundance, of fluidity and organism; the complexity of its overlapping curves fills the space with beautiful energy.
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The temple, the sanctuary . . .Where this geometry naturally degrades towards its centre, it makes way for the typology of the temple and sanctuary. In a temple, the sanctuary is the centre of a spatial order that orients all the surrounding space. As we move around this centre, we are aware of this order, it gives us to read the exhibition as an artistic whole; the space and the works within it are the objects of our perception.
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As we move toward the centre, the presence of the order intensifies in our consciousness, heightening our awareness of ourselves at the focal point. At the centre, the centripetal force of the surrounding spaces contains us within the sanctuary, giving us to rest, to reflect, to discuss. Here, our own consciousness becomes the object of our perception.
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By establishing this pattern of perception, the sanctuary will bring different visitors into prolonged contact, enough to start conversation and open up each other’s thoughts, discuss each other’s visions of the future.
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Prototypes
To verify the proposal to construct the Phyllotaxis using cardboard tubes as columns, two prototypes were built in Paris in the weeks before moving on site to Bilbao. The first, smaller prototype tests the connection details for their internal stability before using the larger to test the sizing of elements at their true scale.
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The Mercado de la Ribera
Our location in Bilbao is a grand old market hall alongside the river Nervion on the edge of the casco viejo, the historic centre. The two lower floors contain fish and meat markets; the upper floor is a monumental space with semicircular glass apses at either end and a tall dome in the centre. Our exhibition will take up the space between the central dome and the apse shown in the following photos.
The upper floor had fallen out of use for some time before local gallery directors Emilia Epelde and Mikel Mardaras approached the council to open it for exhibitions. This magnificent space will be available to groups such as ourselves till plans to convert the lower floors into paid car parking force the meat market onto the upper floor and the art out the window.
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Construction of the Phyllotaxis
The Phyllotaxis was built over fifteen days in September by a team of volunteers, including students from the Escuela de Bellas Artes, the gallery directors and the Velvet Box executive, directed on site by Kerwin Datu.
Since the structure itself is small and highly repetitive, but relies heavily on mathematical functions, documentation for this project was not done using CAD or 3D modelling software, but consisted of a series of automated set-out tables and graphs produced on MS Excel, as shown here: Phyllotaxis construction documents for Bilbao
The construction period was also a test of everyone's communication skills, with Kerwin Datu learning to speak some Spanish on the job to work with the gallery directors and direct the student volunteers.
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Timber drying on the floor of the MercadoWednesday, Sept. 5, 2007
Work began slowly as 4.5 tonnes of timber arrived this afternoon, with three problems: it hadn't been dressed, hadn't been dried (some beams carrying 10kg of water), and hadn't been sorted for undersized sections. But, with time ticking, the Velvet Box kids, the gallery directors, two Romanian contractors and I relayed the 4.5m lengths up the building's monumental staircase, to dry in the apse.
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Some of the two hundred beams cut to lengthSunday, Sept. 9, 2007
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Monday, Sept. 10, 2007
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Forming the tongues for each beam to slot into the tubesMonday, Sept. 10, 2007
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Beams numbered before detailingMonday, Sept. 10, 2007
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Loading up the cardboard tubes at the factory in San SebastianWednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
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Bellas Artes students checking and notching the beamsFriday, Sept. 14, 2007
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Friday, Sept. 14, 2007
After nine days of groundwork, we raise the first three columns.
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Seven columns forming a hexagon of spacesSaturday, Sept. 15, 2007
For the first time we have an appreciation of how the spaces and proportions might feel within the finished structure.
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Interwoven beams against the ceiling of the MercadoSunday, Sept. 16, 2007
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> 5
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Construction of the Phyllotaxis
The Phyllotaxis was built over fifteen days in September by a team of volunteers, including students from the Escuela de Bellas Artes, the gallery directors and the Velvet Box executive, directed on site by Kerwin Datu.
Since the structure itself is small and highly repetitive, but relies heavily on mathematical functions, documentation for this project was not done using CAD or 3D modelling software, but consisted of a series of automated set-out tables and graphs produced on MS Excel, as shown here: Phyllotaxis construction documents for Bilbao
The construction period was also a test of everyone's communication skills, with Kerwin Datu learning to speak some Spanish on the job to work with the gallery directors and direct the student volunteers.
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Eleven columns completedMonday, Sept. 17, 2007
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Monday, Sept. 17, 2007
With eleven columns raised, we begin to see paths forming through the structure.
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Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
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Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
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Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
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One third of the structure completedTuesday, Sept. 18, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
With one third completed, the structure begins to fill the visual field from the entry into the hall.
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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> 6
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Construction of the Phyllotaxis
The Phyllotaxis was built over fifteen days in September by a team of volunteers, including students from the Escuela de Bellas Artes, the gallery directors and the Velvet Box executive, directed on site by Kerwin Datu.
Since the structure itself is small and highly repetitive, but relies heavily on mathematical functions, documentation for this project was not done using CAD or 3D modelling software, but consisted of a series of automated set-out tables and graphs produced on MS Excel, as shown here: Phyllotaxis construction documents for Bilbao
The construction period was also a test of everyone's communication skills, with Kerwin Datu learning to speak some Spanish on the job to work with the gallery directors and direct the student volunteers.
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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> 7
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Construction of the Phyllotaxis
The Phyllotaxis was built over fifteen days in September by a team of volunteers, including students from the Escuela de Bellas Artes, the gallery directors and the Velvet Box executive, directed on site by Kerwin Datu.
Since the structure itself is small and highly repetitive, but relies heavily on mathematical functions, documentation for this project was not done using CAD or 3D modelling software, but consisted of a series of automated set-out tables and graphs produced on MS Excel, as shown here: Phyllotaxis construction documents for Bilbao
The construction period was also a test of everyone's communication skills, with Kerwin Datu learning to speak some Spanish on the job to work with the gallery directors and direct the student volunteers.
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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> 8
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Construction of the Phyllotaxis
The Phyllotaxis was built over fifteen days in September by a team of volunteers, including students from the Escuela de Bellas Artes, the gallery directors and the Velvet Box executive, directed on site by Kerwin Datu.
Since the structure itself is small and highly repetitive, but relies heavily on mathematical functions, documentation for this project was not done using CAD or 3D modelling software, but consisted of a series of automated set-out tables and graphs produced on MS Excel, as shown here: Phyllotaxis construction documents for Bilbao
The construction period was also a test of everyone's communication skills, with Kerwin Datu learning to speak some Spanish on the job to work with the gallery directors and direct the student volunteers.
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007
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> 9
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Completion
The last screw of the Phyllotaxis was driven in at 7:15pm, Thursday, September 20, after fifteen straight days of solid work. Many thanks must go to the gallery directors Emilia Epelde and Mikel Mardaras for their unflagging support and to Velvet Box directors Aurélie Moigno, Ignacio Urrutia, Valentina Di Pietri and Miguel Gonzalez and to all the Bilbao students and locals who contributed many hours of labour.
The installation is now handed over to Velvet Box' art direction to be fitted out with works in time for the opening on September 28.
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The structure as it will be seen from the entry to the upper hall -
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Columns advancing toward the sanctuary at the installation's centre -
Interweaving paths leading from the sanctuary to the glass apse -
From the sanctuary toward the entry -
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Under the stained glass ceiling of the market building -
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Across the sanctuary -
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