Description

SPACES proposal 12/98
           
My proposal for the SPACES Gallery is a series of small illuminated houses to be installed on the roof.  When thinking about the site, I was fantasizing  about the life behind the windows of the SPACES building.  I know that the building is commercially zoned, but who can look at it without wondering how nice it would be to wake up to see the sun coming up over the lake and the city?  I think I visited SPACES four times before I accepted that no one lives there.  My proposal is about the little fantasies we create around the spaces we observe.

Inspiration

Urban landscapes are characterized by many horizontal planes punctuated with strong vertical elements. Chimneys, water towers, vents, street lamps and telephone poles all combine to create an active visual environment. I have always loved the little details on roof tops, particularly the accidental things, like the way vents do or don’t line up, odd patches on the roof or the structure of light wells.  I was thinking about these things in relation to SPACES when I recalled that the Medici had some pretty interesting chimneys, a very good seed for which to approach this project.  The Villa of Artimino, also known as “la Ferdinanda,” has a crazy assortment of chimneys that make a dull villa into a visual circus. The Spaces building is not dull, but it is a good stage for a little circus of is own.

There is a minor influence to this piece that is its underside. I read the poetry of Jorie Graham while looking for direction on this project.  Her poetry does not relate to ideas about community space, but one poem kept sticking with me for this project—Sea-Blue Aubade (see final page).  It is about mornings, interiors and exteriors. The exterior of a house has the inherent quality of longing,  and this longing also resonates in this project for SPACES.

General Description

Viewpoints

As you approach SPACES in the daytime you will see some unusual features to the building.  You get closer and you recognize strange little buildings are perched on the roof. I have indicated two houses for the western side of the building.  Because Superior Viaduct is at an angle, the buildings mounted over the facade will also be visible from the approach.  The view from the street will be rather oblique because the facade buildings will be set back from the actual edge, but like the current signs, When you park in front of SPACES, you have already figured out you are there, so the sign does its job.  From the Superior Bridge, the parking on the southern side of Superior Viaduct and from many spots in the Flats and Downtown, the Facade view will be marvelous. Nine buildings will be seen.

SPACES is easily spotted when traveling East or West along the Shoreway. I really love this view. The entire roof slants toward the highway traffic.  I have arranged the buildings so that they would be visible from their appointed sides of the building but also be interestingly arranged in respect to the large open space of the roof.  At night, these houses will be a peculiar and wonderful sight from every direction, but especially from the Shoreway.

The Houses

Each house will has its own personality and they are  funny little buildings in the daylight. At night they will have a neon glow from within as if someone were home.  Who lives in the spaces on the roof?  As we have gotten used to them, we have discovered that we have made up little stories about each building; a couple lives in the close one, a cranky old man in the one that is far....  Even the houses that line up to spell ”SPACES” are assigned a personality that distinguish each from the other. 

The Houses, Technical Description

The house forms will range in from ten to tweleve feet.  They vary in their width and depth but remain near four feet squared.  Each house is made up of several components: the support structure, the shell form (and its roof), the interior neon and exterior lamps).  The windows are  illuminated by neon outlines that are housed within the structure and remain on all through the day and the night.