Clocks and Clouds: The Architecture of Escher GuneWardena 9783035611724, 9783035611717

Table of contents :
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
INTERVIEW BY LILIAN PFAFF WITH FRANK ESCHER AND RAVI GUNEWARDENA / PART I : CLOCKS AND CLOUDS
COMPLETE WORKS
READING THE PAST
HISTORY AND PRESERVATION: FOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PAST
INTERVIEW BY LILIAN PFAFF WITH FRANK ESCHER AND RAVI GUNEWARDENA / PART II:BEGINNINGS AND COLLABORATIONS
SPACES FOR LIVING
AGAINST NATURE
INTERVIEW BY LILIAN PFAFF WITH FRANK ESCHER AND RAVI GUNEWARDENA / PART III:THE THEN AND THE NOW
LANDSCAPES OF REFLECTION
SPACE BECOMES TIME: LANDSCAPES OF REFLECTION AND RECONCILIATION
MAKING OF PLACE
ATMOSPHERES, EXHIBITIONS, AND CATOPTRIC BOXES
RELATING TO ART
THE ART OF EXHIBITION
INTERVIEW BY LILIAN PFAFF WITH FRANK ESCHER AND RAVI GUNEWARDENA / PART IV: MOVEMENT AND STILLNESS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
IMAGE CREDITS

Citation preview

CLOCKS

A N

CL 0 U

T HE

D S

D

A RC HITECTU RE

0

F

G U

ESC HER

N E W A R D E N

A

House of Seven Screens, Glen dale, CA (Escher GuneWardena Architecture) 2017, Alex Slade

House on Two Towers (from east), Pasadena, CA (Escher GuneWardena Architecture) 2016, Alex Slade

House on S1x Legs, Los Angeles, CA (Escher GuneWardena Architecture) 2017, Alex Slade

Sola/Wnght House, Los Angeles, CA (Escher GuneWardena Architecture) 2017, Alex Slade

Sola/Wnght House, Los Angeles, CA (Escher GuneWardena Architecture) 2017, Alex Slade

LILI AN

P FA F F, editor

With contributions by SABINE FRANK RAVI

ECKMANN

ESCHER

GUNEWARDENA

JOCELYN BARBARA

GIBBS LAMPRECHT

NICHOLAS PAULETTE ALEX

SINGLE Y

SLADE

MARTINO MIMI

OLSBERG

ST

ZEIGER

BIRKHAUSER BASEL

ERLI

CLO CKS

CLO UDS

A N D

T HE

ARC HITE CTURE

0

E S C HE R

F

G U N E

W

AR D E

N

A

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

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FOREWORD

M A K I N G OF P L A C E

JOC ELYN G I B B S 18 8

AT M O S P H E R E S , E X H I B I T I O N S , A N D C A T O P T R I C B OX E S

18

I N T R O D U CT I O N

PAU LETTE S I N GLEY

M A R T I N O ST I E R L I 198

ELECTRIC SUN I

202 ELECTRIC SUN Ill

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206 HERMES PETIT H

INTERVIEW BY LILIAN PFAFF WITH F R A N K E S C H E R A N D R A V I G U N E WA R D E N A

210

P A R T 1: C L O C K S A N D C L O U D S

32

C O M P L E T E W O R KS

CLOUDS-REDCAT

R E L AT I N G T O A RT

214

T H E ART O F E X H I B I T I O N

SABI NE ECKMANN R E A D I N G T H E PAST 222

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H I S T O R Y A N D P R E S E RVA T I O N :

BLUM

&

POE GALLERY I

224 INSTALLATION DESIGN FOR

F O U R C O N V E R S AT I O N S W I T H T H E P A S T

MIKE KELLEY'S PETTING ZOO

B A R B A R A L A M P R EC H T

228

BLUM

&

POE GALLERY 11

234 EXHIBITION DESIGN FOR 72

CHEMOSPHERE RESTORATION

80

TYRE HOUSE RESTORATION

86

STEPHEN PRINA: AS HE REMEMBERED IT

90

EAMES HOUSE CONSERVATION

94

PAUL/NE: AN OPERA

BETWEEN EARTH AND HEAVEN: THE ARCHITECTURE OF JOHN LAUTNER 238 EXHIBITION DESIGN FOR LIVING FLOWERS: IKEBANA AND CONTEMPORARY ART 242 EXHIBITION DESIGN FOR

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SHARON LOCKHART'S LUNCH BREAK

I N T E R V I E W BY L I L I A N P F A F F W I T H F R A N K E S C H E R A N D R A V I G U N E WA R D E N A

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PART 11: B E G I N N I N G S

EXHIBITION DESIGN FOR SHARON LOCKHART

A N D C O L L A B O R AT I O N S

I

NOA ESHKOL

250 SCENOGRAPHY FOR SHARON LOCKHART'S FOUR EXERCISES IN ESHKOL-WACHMAN MOVEMENT NOTATION

SPACES FOR LIVI N G

110

A G A l N ST N A T U R E

253

MIMI ZEIGER

I NTERVIEW BY L I L I A N PFAFF WITH F R A N K E S C H E R A N D R A V I G U N E WA R D E N A PART IV: MOVE M E N T A N D S T I L L N E S S

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116

HOLLYWOOD HILLS HOUSE

122

HOUSE ON TWO TOWERS

128

SO LA/WRIG HT HOUSE

140

PEARSON/TRENT HOUSE

146

HOUSE WITH FIVE CORNERS

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HOUSE OF SEVEN SCREENS

I N T E R V I E W BY L I L I A N P F A F F W I T H F R A N K E S C H E R A N D R A V I G U N E WA R D E N A P A R T I ll : T H E T H E N A N D T H E N O W

L A N D S C A P E S O F R E F L E CT I O N

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S P A C E B E C O M E S T lM E : L A N D S C A P E S O F R E F L E CT I O N A N D R E C O N C I L I A T I O N

N I CHOLAS O L S B ERG 178

ST. MICHAEL'S

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WOODLAND NATURE RETREAT

262 264 268 2 70

A C K N OW L E D G E M E N T S S E L E C T E D P U B L I C AT I O N S A B OU T T H E C O N T R I BUTORS I MAGE CREDITS

FOREWORD

JOC ELYN G I BBS

In Clocks and Clouds, the exhibition and the catalog, Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena offer us design happenings that reveal their processes of dreamy investigation on the way to precise materialization, and back again. The Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a particularly suitable site for Escher GuneWardena's generous and boundary-blurring engagement with art, craft, architecture, and its histories. Our mission is to engage with contemporary practice and to reflect in new ways on Southern California's extraordinary architectural history, much of which is documented in our Architecture and Design Collection.

Some of Escher GuneWardena's projects have drawn directly from this collection. For Stephen Prina's As He Remembered

lt, Frank and Ravi created cabinet drawings of the built-in furniture from the Harris and Hiler Houses by Rudolph M. Schindler. The result was Prina's installation of disembodied and strangely emotional cupboards and tables painted

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an intense pink. For their opera Pauline, Frank and Ravi drew upon Rudolph and Pauline Schindler's correspondence for the libretto. Their design and staging at the Schindlers' Kings Road House resulted in one of the most moving architectural encounters I have experienced.

They have paid their debt to other figures from Southern California's Modernist period through careful restorations (the Eames House and Lautner's Chemosphere), as well as through creative re-readings of this heavy legacy in their own residential and commercial commissions.

Escher GuneWardena's exciting and broad range of projects expands the notion of what architects do. The modest and collaborative spirit of their practice allows them to pay homage to history, help manifest the visions of contemporary artists, and create their own completely new poetic works.

Santa Barbara, June 2017

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The work of Escher GuneWardena is not easily identified by a style or a formal repertoire, but rather characterized by a design ethic and methodology. Is architecture concerned with spelling out-in form and space-pre-existing abstract concepts? Or is it about developing a concept and design strategy grounded in the specific conditions and circumstances unique to each project? If given the choice between these two philosophically different approaches, Escher GuneWardena would emphatically opt for the latter. Their architecture, whether it deals with the design and construction of houses and buildings, the preservation of modern landmarks, the design of interiors and exhibitions, or in their collaboration with contemporary artists, is always informed by an ethic of problem solving, and for finding an adequate architectural and spatial expression to any given task. Needless to say, the work of Escher GuneWardena at the same time is too rich and complex to be merely reduced to this single aspect: their architecture is not simply determined by circumstance and possibilities, but rather informed by them. Leafing through the projects, it is evident that their work is governed by a set of recurring themes and principles: an aesthetic predilection for Minimalism; a strong interest in the expression of construction and the quality of materials; a genuine understanding of Eastern spiritual practices (as well as their ensuing architecturaljspatial dimensions); and a keen interest in and affinity to contemporary artistic production as well as an ongoing exchange of ideas with artists, who are among their primary sources of inspiration and account for many fruitful collaborations.

While there is thus clearly not physical or material determinism at work in the architecture of Escher GuneWardena, these aspects are readily acknowledged not only as fundamental to their work, but also as a source for critical inquiry and productive investigation. Architecture, in their understanding, is not an abstract play with forms and a superimposition of such onto the world, but is conceptually and spatially developed directly out of a serious and thorough questioning of a specific given situation. This commitment to and belief in the process of

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construction and in the act of building as a source of knowledge is rare within the context of theory-based American architectural production, but it is very congruent with an increased interest in contemporary architectural theory in issues such as process and craft, and in line with the (re-)discovery that the building and the object are indeed at the core of architectural production.

The immediate context within which Escher GuneWardena operate is Southern California and the greater Los Angeles area. In many ways, their architecture is firmly rooted within this specific local context and its history. There is a keen interest in exploring the possibilities and limitations of the unique landscape, its topography and ecology-be it natural, such as in the canyons, hills, and plains,

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or be it man-made, such as in the highways (the British architectural historian Reyner Banham has famously described Los Angeles as the architecture of four ecologies). These explorations found conspicuous expression in the work of Escher GuneWardena, not least in houses perched over difficult, sloping terrain, or elevating themselves over impossibly steep hills in order to open up dramatic views framing the surrounding landscape (the framing of the view being another underlying theme of West Coast Modernism, famously theorized by Richard Neutra and his concept of " biorealism"). In line with this obsession, there is, in Southern California architecture, an interest in integrating the landscape into the architec­ tural design, and in general in blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces, which we can find in the work of Escher GuneWardena as well. Moreover, they have taken on the preservation of LA's mid-century Modernism as a major aspect of their architectural production, be it in the case of the restoration of the Eames House in Pacific Palisades or in their role as leading experts on the work of that quintessential LA architect, John Lautner, all of which further grounds their work and thinking within the specific cultural and architectural context of their city. lt is particularly felicitous for their work that they are intimately familiar with both the legacy of European Modernism-which became a driving force in

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Los Angeles early on through the contributions of noted emigres such as Rudolph Schindler or Richard Neutra-and Japanese architecture and philosophy, which have historically played a seminal role in the genesis of a specific West Coast

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Modernism. Furthermore, Escher GuneWardena have theorized about the lack of sophisticated construction methods in California as a basic given in their architectural thinking, and one that poses not only limitations, but also aesthetic opportunities-in the sense of (willed) imperfection, improvisation, and assemblage. With all of the above in mind, it is important to maintain that the work of Escher GuneWardena is fundamentally different from that of the so-called LA School and its primary interest in (de)form(ation). The skepticism shared by Frank and Ravi of this deconstructivist attitude perhaps speaks to their respective training outside the powerhouse of the 1980s SCI-Arc, but at the same time it relates back to the conviction that architecture is born out of an engagement with the here and now as opposed to the superimposition of an abstract and autonomous set of principles and forms.

In trying to define the place of Escher GuneWardena's design ethic, we might also want to take into account the title they have chosen for this volume. lt is derived from a famous lecture by the eminent Austrian-British philosopher of science Karl Popper, the contents and relevance of which for architecture Frank and Ravi discuss in one of their interviews on the following pages. In sum, whereas the "clock" stands metaphorically for a physical system of absolute precision and predictability, the "cloud" is a much more open, unpredictable system that allows for indeterminacy. As Frank and Ravi argue, while architecture encompasses many components-measurements, proportions, static laws, and so on-that would qualify as "clocks/' what makes architecture an art is its "cloudiness/' which takes into account the possibility of imperfection and chance; things, in other words, that fall outside the absolute control of the architect and his "project." lt is interesting to note that in the history of the philosophy of science, one of the great dissenters of the doctrine of "physical determinism"-which basically held that all "clouds" were essentially clocks, i.e. cou Id be described as systems organized according to underlying rules and laws-was the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, whose position Popper, in the aforementioned essay, characterized as follows: " Though in common with all other physicists of his time he believed that the world was a clock that worked according to Newtonian laws, he rejected

20

the belief that this clock, or any other, was perfect down to the smallest detail. Peirce concluded that there was a certain looseness or imperfection in all clocks, and that this allowed an element of chance to enter. Thus Peirce conjectured that the world was not only ruled by the strict Newtonian laws, but that it was also at the same time ruled by laws of chance, or of randomness, or of disorder... Peirce was the first post-Newtonian physicist and philosopher who thus dared to adopt the view that to some degree a// clocks are c/ouds."1 lt is of course the worldview that was adopted widely (at least in physics) after the establishment of quantum physics and chaos theory, but it is probably safe to say that an acknowledgment of indeterminacy and chance as characteristic of any physical system has been

0 z

much less popular in the realm of architecture. We should keep in mind that Peirce, who pioneered a physics of "cloudiness/' was also a member of The Metaphysical Club and the father of philosophical pragmatism. Though the term is often abused, the concept quintessentially stands for the belief that the meaning of a concept is determined by the practical consequences and effects of an action or deed, and not by abstract and fixed principles. Pragmatism is a theory of praxis, and it privileges the experimental over the ideal. lt is such a pragmatic understanding of architecture that underlies the thinking and work of Escher GuneWardena. The question is not: what is the essence of an object material, or concept but rather: how does it perform in the world? lt is this understanding of the discipline of architecture as praxis that they have expressed in one of the interviews: " Both of our educations reflect something that we are interested in in our work and that is essentially how things are made: How are things put together? How do you build? How do you use material? What can you coax out of a method of construction or a material? To us these things are much more interesting than approaching a project from a purely theoretical or purely formal basis. We spend an enormous amount of time thinking about how to manipulate a construction process, or how to manipulate an existing construction product."2 Notes

1

Karl R. Popper, "Of Clocks and Clouds," Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach (New York:

Oxford University Press, 1973), pp. 212-213. 2

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Interview by Lilian Pfaff with Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, Part 11: Beginnings and Collaborations, in

this publication, p. 102.

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I NTERVIEW BY L I L I A N PFAFF W I T H F R A N K E S C H E R A N D R A V I G U N E WA R D E N A

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P A R T 1: C L O C K S A N D C L O U D S

LILIAN PFAFF

you cannot and shouldn't control. This

combinations, or constellations of sound.

and Clouds" characterize your work?

How does the title "Clocks

idea of the accidental has always been

it's not even necessarily about contrast­

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part of our thinking. Setting up a logical

ing, but about the order breaking down,

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FRANK ESCHER

order but simultaneously allowing for

becoming loose, and re-emerging­

A few times when we

have talked or thought about our work,

the accidental form a very dynamic

going back and forth between the two.

m eta-topics have come up that call into

pairing in our minds, and construct a

A good mental image of this is watching

question what in the art of architecture

useful bracket to the whole world in

shadows from a row of colum ns, for example, and how sometimes the

is measurable and what is not measu r­

between. There is a famous lecture by

able. What are things you can define

Karl Popper ("Of Clouds and Clocks")

shadows get blu rred by passing clouds

clearly and what are things you cannot?

where he talks about his earlier scientific

and then reappear.

We have always been interested in

and philosophical thinking in relation to

developing an internal logic, or a system

these opposites: determinism, which

FE

of constraints for a project, in order to

comes out of rational thinking, and, on

is a duality that exists in many other cultural contexts.

The idea of "order" and "chance"

provide it with a clear and precise

the other hand, chance. While he argues

intellectual structure. lt can be as banal

that most things, systems, or phenome­

as a system of dimensions or propor­

na fall somewhere in between, he gives

RG

tions, but that is what is measurable to

us a conceptual model to visualize this.

conflicting ideas, the desire to establish

us. And it is something that can be set

And between these two seemingly

"order" and the acceptance of the

up to have its own logic or lead to its

RAVI GU NEWARDENA There

own conclusions. On the other hand, we

beautiful piece of music by the composer

is also a

"accidental" or accepting that many things cannot be forced to comply with

have always accepted the idea of

Gyorgy Ligeti, who bases his piece on

order, we try to develop our work. Each

chance or things that are accidental,

Popper's essay. Here is translated in

of our projects, we believe, navigates

that we cannot control and don't want to

musical terms what we were just talking

between these two polar positions.

control. For example, how a material

about: the juxtaposition of very precise

ages or is transformed through human

sound structures against what he

FE

interaction, or through processes that

describes as clouds-im precise

of the internal structure of thought. This

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>

We use "complexity" as an indicator z

RG The idea of perfection, or the striving for perfection, versus the acceptance of imperfection is one example. While it's simplistic, an analogy between Western and Eastern philosophies comes to mind. That these imperfections happen in life and are part of life, sometimes can be beautiful. With such imperfections, there are certain things that cannot be

Thermoplastic membrane detail, Sola/Wright House, Los Angeles, 2000-2008

measured or categorized with a clear logic. And that is chance. While this aesthetic concept exists in many Asian

thought, however, might be expressed

cultures, the Japanese concept of

in an extremely simple sentence. And it

wabi-sabi clarifies this idea: imperfection

is this tension, as well as the absolute

marks the uniqueness of an object,

calmness, that is set up between the

reminding you of impermanence, and

extreme complexity of this "thought"

incompleteness. These ideas are related

and the extreme simplicity of its formal

to Buddhist characteristics of existence:

Traces (accidental forms) of a match burning.

manifestation that we are interested in

impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and

Alvaro Perdices, From The Hustler@CAKE,

our work. Our work is not about "form,"

"non-self" (the unsubstantial nature of

New York. Doe# 7,1997

per se, but about an attempt to render

defining self). Interestingly, this is linked

You can either contort that structure to

imperceptible "form," the shaping of

to the notion of the hollowness or

somehow allow this tree to happen,

form, the hand of the architect.

unsubstantiality of form itself. A Pali

or you can interrupt the rhythm of this

Buddhist scripture describes form as

structure to acknowledge the tree.

RG And while we both have educational

being merely a lump of foam-nothing

backgrounds from technically oriented

but bubbles on closer inspection.

schools, we believe that what turns

FE it's a pair of ideas one can discover in many of our projects, where imperfection

architecture into art are its ephemeral

FE lt is also worth noting that you

can be seen in how a material or surface

and intangible qualities, that which can­

can only perceive perfection because

appears at the end of a project, or how

not be learned or quantified. Ultimately,

imperfection exists and vice versa.

certain existing imperfections are sought

art is often created by letting go of

We embrace this by accepting both

out by us, framed and made visible. I think

scientific processes and just allowing

as potentially equal in value.

something to happen without calcu­

there are a few examples of this, where the violations of perfection become part

lation-much like creating good music

RG That said, to conceive of creating

of the overall environment. Existing con­

ultimately depends on being free from

imperfection would be contrived and

ditions of imperfection are framed so

the awareness of technique.

illogical. There are times when we

that they become apparent and legible

develop a certain structure, but some­

to the viewer and very much part of

thing gets in its way. For example, a tree

the overall project. I am thinking of the

exists where a building needs to be.

wrinkles on the skin of the Sola/Wright

LP For example?

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House (see p. 128), the concrete at the

sophisticated construction methods in

House with Five Corners (see p. 146),

California. Although you can do very

or the concrete on the House on Two

precise building here, it costs a fortune.

Towers (Jamie Residence, see p. 122).

Other architects before us- Rudolph

And certainly all of the projects where

Schindler, or Frank Gehry in the first part

this idea of the cloud is central and

of his career, embraced the fact that

pushed more actively.

local construction here encompasses a

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certain level of imperfection, improvising, RG We are not the first people to think

and putting things together that you

about that. There are a number of artists

wouldn't find in Central Europe. Some­

whose work we have followed or whose

times the guy who is pouring the concrete

work inspires us, who have worked with

is just not equipped to make the most

the concept of chance-one of them is

precise, perfect concrete. But rather

John Cage. The idea of the accident is

than fighting against these limitations,

central to much of his work, which came

we search for a way to incorporate them

0

from his interest in Zen philosophy

into the conceptual underpinning of the

0

and exploring other ideas of order or

Wood-concrete detail in the House with Five

lack of such, which was then gradually

Corners, Los Angeles,

2009-2012

incorporated into his work over a long period.

contrast the imperfection of the concrete with the perfection of the woodworking.

FE I don' t think that would be our

Walls or built-in furniture are very

approach to arriving at imperfection.

precisely made so that they contrast

RG There is certainly involvement in all

exist in the concrete work. I think the

LP I think this is really interesting-the

idea of creating imperfections. But what

project. For example, oftentimes we

deliberately with the imperfections that

is the difference between accidents that

of our projects from the people who

House with Five Corners is a perfect

happen and accidents you create?

are going to be using it. We're often

example of that.

informed by something that we come FE That is a good question-however,

across in their philosophy, their practice,

LP Do you teach your students some­

I don' t think the term "create imperfec­

or their daily rituals. Those are certainly

thing like that?

tion" is accurate, it's more about allowing

acknowledged. For example, in the

imperfection to happen. In a way it is

Franciscan chapel (St. Michael's, see

FE We certainly talk about it, but this

an act of creation, but it's a passive act

p. 178), the placement of the windows

may be one of the aspects of making

where something is allowed to develop

was determined by the ritual of the

a building that are beyond what can

on its own.

friars' daily offices, the times at which

be taught.

they pray in the space. LP Imperfection could come about when

RG lt is something that you can expose

you work with people who influence

FE But the people most involved in

someone to as an approach. But we

your projects. What about participatory

allowing imperfection to happen, I would

don' t want to impose this on a student

projects, which would automatically

say are the builders. To some degree it,

and say, this is how you should make

create imperfection?

has to do with not having access to more

your decisions.

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FE

Instead we point out that it is a way

by Douglas Fogle around two artists­

of looking at things that exists in many

Paul Thek and Mario Merz. Mario Merz

other disciplines. lt exists in visual art,

introduced the Fibonacci numbering

in music ...

sequence into the exhibition. The numbering sequence is the mathematical

RO

... in poetry.

basis of many things, from genetics to economic theories. In his case it

Mathematrcal patterns found rn soap bubbles

ultimately implied infinity and endless­

21

1)

l

'

'

A tiled plane Wlth rntegral squares based on the

ness. We used the Fibonacci numbers

FE

to design and proportion every interven­

order to more elusive expressions of

tion we made in the exhibition. Every

order was present in the exhibition,

wall width, height, and door opening

from the precision of the architectural

was based on these numerical propor­

proportions and design elements

tions. This imposed an invisible order

previously mentioned, to tables that

onto the entire exhibition of ...

were based on cloud forms. Originally we proposed a large inflatable cloud to

Fibonacci sequence RO FE

I think that is a very im portant

So this range from very recognizable

.. .four and a half acres (18,210 square

cover the central courtyard where

meters) of exhibition space.

certain performances would take place.

poetry is often this violation of rules.

FE

RO The

the use of the Fibonacci numbering

but on the ground were stage platforms

RO

sequence in this exhibition probably

with dimensions based on the golden

best expresses this arc from order to

ratio that formed cloud-like patterns.

example, because what makes prose

... changing the cadence or order

of speech.

In a way, out of all of our projects,

cloud cover did not happen,

disorder. People felt it and people FE

com mented on it. lt is the basis for many

FE

write a poem.

recognizable systems of order, like the

designing the scenography for the

golden ratio used in Classical architec­

REDCAT Gala 2014 (see p. 210). We

RO

ture, for instance. But if you continue

created this large looming cloud that

Which is why a computer cannot

Not yet ... although I think a computer

can be used to create that kind of

Another project about clouds was

delving into this numerical system, it

accidental form. lt certainly has been

leads to fractal patterns and structuring

used in electronic music, for exam pie,

systems for many things where the

where you set up repeating loops and

order is not so visibly apparent. Like

they get manipu lated by computer

the patterns in clouds ...

chance. RO FE

The design of the Carnegie lnterna­

...or soap bubbles. it's kind of

amazing to discover that, when broken

tional 2008 was a project that really

down, the simplicity of Fibonacci

embraced the entire span, from order

numbers is similar to the efficient

Alumrnum tube structure for Clouds-REDCAT,

to disorder. The exhibition was curated

structure of soap bubbles.

Los Angeles, 2014

26

hovered in the space-a very formal

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element.

RG We started out by trying to create

the cloud out of perfect spheres of different sizes. After figuring out the logistics, we decided to use a loosely shaped metal structure, as one would make an ikebana arrangement. There are similar examples of bamboo structures

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made by ikebana masters.

Escher GuneWardena, Vastu Purusha Mandata, 2009

FE Ravi built the entire structure. lt was

civilization was trying to understand and

very much created through its making

categorize the entire universe. lt was

and came out of experiments in his

a time when Linnaeus developed his

ikebana practice. We had access to the

biological classification system, when

Norton Family Office work yard-a huge

everyone was trying to classify every­

outdoor space. Ravi was there for days

thing. And in the middle of this fever

with a troop of helpers forming these

to rationally understand the whole world,

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Escher GuneWardena, mandala studies, 2013

structures. We then brought them into

arises the extreme irrationality of follies­

R E DCAT and hung them to make this

this big counterweight, a fashion state­

FE The whole folly exhibition consisted

enormous cloud formation.

ment. I think it's a more na'lve interpreta­

of two different parts-one was an

tion of the same balance between order

historic survey involving a great amount

RG The R E DCAT lighting designers then

and disorder. With follies they were

of research on follies, their references

lit it to create a continuously changing

actually creating, deliberately, disorder­

and precedents. And the other part was

light show during the performance.

these pieces of architectural scenery

developing a folly of our own that made

that are set into artificial landscapes.

reference to the origins of some of the

LP What themes or interests did you

Underlying the idea of these gardens

first follies, which themselves come out of

explore when curating the Folly­

that are meant to represent nature is of

interpretations or misinterpretations of...

The View from Nowhere exhibition at

course the fact that they are completely

the Museum of Contemporary Art,

man-made.

RG ... pagodas. In the West they often

copied the external forms of pagodas,

Los Angeles ( MOCA) in 2009-2010? RG They were attempts at instantly

while missing out on the point that the

RG Our interest in history and the idea

creating history or transporting you to

pagoda was a connection between

of building something that technically

other time periods and geographic

heaven and earth, an axis mundi.

locations. This is when Chinoiserie

Original pagodas had a central column,

has no purpose.

becomes en vogue a nd recreating

which in follies were done away with,

FE Follies became popular in the Age of

historic monuments from Greece, Rome,

turning that space into a pavilion for

Enlightenment at a time when Western

and further.

playing cards or having tea. So we

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looked at the origin of these very essential

RG A mandala is basically a chart, a

forms, the pagoda, the stupa, and back

microcosm of the universe, and ascribed

further to the mandala, which became

to points on this chart are certain

the basis for our own exploration of a

attributes. Some mandalas describe

folly. This resulted in our creating a three­

where your head and where your feet

dimensional mandala.

should lie, providing an orientation for your life's activities. There are various

FE If you look at the genealogy of it, you

types and scales of mandalas (from small

have these follies that are based on

to large) to help orient your house, temple,

misreading existing forms like pagodas,

or village. it's an ordering system.

Francois Perrin, Miami Air Hotel, 2006, shown in Folly: The View from Nowhere, MOCA Pacific

Design Center, 2009

themselves based on earlier forms of stupas, which were based on mandalas.

LP So how did you transform this into

So we traced it back to one of its origins,

architecture?

FE No, this is something we did subse­

and then used the mandala as a basis for

quent to the exhibition. The structure

our own exploration of a folly.

F E We used it to create a structure that

we built at MOCA was very much a

had no apparent purpose other than

continuation of the overall geometry and

L P Maybe you could elaborate on what

maybe a symbolic one.

patterns of the existing space. There

RG And there are historical ways in

open space that no one ever accesses,

a mandala is?

was a section of the building with a tall

which a mandala was given three­

which became the site of the folly. So

dimensional form. The central chakra

our intervention was a specific response

(energy point), for example, had great

to our reading of that space.

symbolic significance and was given correspondingly proportionate form.

RG Although to arrive at that particular

There might be a tower at the center

form we made a great deal of study

of the temple, which occupied that

models.

central chakra, or it might be in a significant open space where a certain

FE The intervention also had an elaborate

ritual takes place-a fire, bathing, or

system of proportions. From the height

dance ritual, and so forth. So we took

and width of each step to the thickness

one type of mandala and manipulated it

of the wall and height of the tower,

into various three-dimensional forms,

all of these elements of the folly were in

by marking different quadrants to high­

relation to each other proportionally.

light their significance. We explored

Likewise, the proportions of the folly

numerous possibilities.

were in relation to the dimensions of

LP But did you show these different

ture that surrounded it. So there was a

explorations?

subtle ordering system that we used

the space it occupied and the architec­

Escher GuneWardena, Folly: The View from Nowhere, MOCA Pacific Design Center, 2009

to develop this intervention and it was

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not some-thing that we necessarily

building. We were fascinated with this

words and speech. But I don' t think it is

wanted to make apparent. lt was a kind

great vertical space that nobody ever

possible to think purely with words. Ravi

of under-lying secret order.

experiences, and we began exploring

and I collect images. We use images in

what that building was about and how

our work not only as mnemonic devices,

LP The MOCA space at the Pacific Design

its upper area could be used. This led

we use them to illustrate a thought, an

Center itself is almost a folly.

to the idea of building the folly and

atmosphere, as analogies, as tools to

explaining what follies were historically.

examine an idea.

0 0

FE Yes it is. And we discussed the Pacific

Design Center pavilion as being a folly.

F E And again to discover that there had

So our structure was a folly within a folly.

been generations of architects who had been fascinated by this idea of the folly...

LP So how did you come up with the

idea to do a folly show?

RG ... including very recently. 0

F E We covered everything from 18th­

0

century English follies by Sir William

0

Chambers, Dan Graham's Octagon for Munster, Frank Gehry's The Prison

(shaped like a fish), and other contem­ porary works by David Adjaye, Francois Perrin, and Thomas Schutte.

LP On another subject, can you talk

about your use of images? RG We used to start our lectures by

simply showing images that spoke to us, that were reference materials, images that we all keep in our personal visual libraries.

Claude Collins-Stracensky, Proposal for Perceptual Vessel, 2008-2009, shown in Folly: The View from

Nowhere, MOCA Pacific Design Center, 2009

FE We think "in images." This contradicts

Fritz Mauthner's argument who quotes the 19th-century German dramatist Grabbe as follows " Nur was lhr in Worte

RG lt evolved from a discussion with

ki:innt fassen, ki:innt lhr denken." (Only

MOCA senior curator Philipp Kaiser and

what you can put in words, can you

wanting to do something site-specific

conceive of/think), which further states

in reaction to the Pacific Design Center

that concepts must be identical with

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