Personal Statement
Architecture acts as a physical history and the architect is its storyteller. Architectural styles and forms speak of past cultures and societies, but they also inspire new ideas for the future. Vincent Scully's observation that the 'architect should be regarded as a kind of physical historian [...] the architect builds visible history' has shaped my understanding of architecture. Thanks to Scully, I realised that an architect's role is to examine the past to design the present and the future. His view that history is inscribed in buildings or even enacted through them has sparked my interest in architecture.
Studying History at A-level has taught me to think about my environment historically. We can learn history from the material elements and traces found in the built environment. Studying the history of the Soviet Union, I realised that architectural symmetry, large scale and a near lack of ornamentation solidified Communist ideology. Maths A-level enabled me to think in multidimensional ways, understand scale and translate my calculations and measurements of existing sites into precise drawings. Concepts like symmetry are directly tied to mathematical notions, like the Golden Ratio which was said to create visually appealing proportions in art and architecture through maths although, in recent years, it has been disproven. Throughout my Art A-level, I have mostly focused on an expression of past memories through mixed media. Researching artists like Njideka Akunyili Crosby inspired me to use personal memorabilia, hidden in collage or under layers of tissue paper, adding warmth and familiarity into my work.
In my designs, I try to mimic the storyteller: to reinterpret the past, to give semblance to the present and to imagine the future. I work with methods and materials that allow me to keep the 'old' whilst also generating a 'new'. In a recent project, I took inspiration from Castello del Calcione, a medieval castle where I stayed in Tuscany. I made clay imprints of the walls, doorknobs, clay pots and tiles. I then used the imprints as moulds for a plaster cast and imagined potential spaces made from the relief of the casts. With the increase in tourism and the climate emergency, cultural heritage is at high risk of destruction. The importance of preserving and documenting it through scans or copies is greater than ever before. Digitisation allows us to preserve cultural heritage and to study every aspect of the design. The object or space, once digitalised, becomes "timeless". As described by Scully, a history can be 'delineated in drawing, cast in concrete or seeded in soil'. Digitising the physical is a form of architectural practice that I am passionate about and I am curious to learn new digital software such as photogrammetry and Rhino, as well as combine analog with digital software. In my section drawing of Castello Calcione, I combined pencil drawing with photogrammetry sections of the castle, creating a play between reality and a personal vision.
Architecture requires patience and commitment - dancing ballet taught me the importance of committing to a project and connecting to the viewer through emotion. It has also sparked my interest in stage design which I developed at an opera camp where, in one week, we put on an interpretation of 'Die Liebe der Danae'. I worked on costume design, as well as stage design. My role as the art editor for Harbinger's online magazine gave me the opportunity to consider how images and text can exist in a reciprocal relationship with each other.
I believe that having the opportunity to study architecture at university level will give me a range of opportunities to explore architecture in all of its forms. I am eager to learn new technologies through which I will be able to convey my research and ideas and become a physical historian myself.
Photo of me as I used a chair to create a
photographic studios where I can record my process of casting.
photographic studios where I can record my process of casting.
