Studio 27
PerFORM
Ariani Anwar & Melany Hayes
Studio Description (the script)
“I confront the city with my body; my legs measure the length of the arcade and the width of the square; my gaze unconsciously projects my body onto the facade of the cathedral, where it roams over the mouldings and contours, sensing the size of recesses and projections; my body weight meets the mass of the cathedral door, and my hand grasps the door pull as I enter the dark void behind. I experience myself in the city, and the city exists through my embodied experience. The city and my body supplement and define each other. I dwell in the city and the city dwells in me.”
Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the senses
To perform is to engage in a dialogue – a temporal, event-based moment that is by its very nature reciprocal. Every action we make exists as a performance of the body, from the moment of dressing, to the way that we hold ourselves walking down the street. Architecture also exists as a performance, from the cacophony of construction, to the façade presented to the world, or the civic presence a building has within an urban environment. Architecture embodies the performance of dialogue, craft and collaboration. Drawing inspiration from contemporary performances such as Wayne McGregor, Olafur Eliasson and Jamie xx’s collaboration for Tree of Codes, this studio challenges traditional performative relationships between sound, set and the body in movement.
Set within the heart of Melbourne’s dynamic Arts Precinct, PerFORM is a collaborative research studio that interrogates the future of performance and its evolving role in the city of Melbourne. Drawing on a live brief for the Arts Centre Melbourne the studio involves the design of a new creative event space on the former site of the Spiegeltent. Under the shadow of the spire, and flanked by landmark institutional heavyweights such as the National Gallery of Victoria and Hamer Hall, the civic space in front of the Arts Centre provides a layered testing ground for the interplay of performance, community engagement, site heritage and cultural history.
The project presents students with an exciting opportunity for potential interdisciplinary collaboration with industry professionals from Parallel Practice, John Wardle Architects, Arup Engineers and the Melbourne University.
Studio Outcomes
The studio will apply a rigorous research-led process to establish a design proposition for a creative events space, incorporating a body of work that includes prototypes, large-scale models, writing and drawing in order to establish a unique design narrative. Students will be asked to apply a critical lens to the typology of theatre and performance spaces across history, and will be expected to attend and analyse two live performance events throughout the course of the semester.
Each student will develop a ‘prop’, a ‘stage’ and ‘event’ that will guide the narrative of their final urban ‘artefact’ design. Prototyping, material experimentation, structural and acoustic explorations will be encouraged. Spatial mapping and strong historical research that interrogates the layers of history across this important civic site in Melbourne will form a key part of the development of the final brief.
Studio Leaders
ARIANI ANWAR is currently working at John Wardle Architects, primarily working in the design and vision of large projects. For the past three years she has been a team member for Melbourne University’s Melbourne Conservatorium of Music project that is currently under construction. A catalytic project for the Southbank Arts Precinct, this project engages with the role of performance and civic presence of a school of music.
Ariani graduated with her Master of Architecture from the Melbourne School of Design and has studied at the Delft University of Technology. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and was a founding editor of Inflection, the internationally published, student-run, journal of the MSD.
MELANY HAYES is a member of Andrew Simpson Architects and research-driven architectural firm Parallel Practice. Bridging a wealth of practice-based experience with an interest in academia and cross disciplinary collaboration, her enthusiasm lies in the nexus of site specific research, community consultation and practice.
Melany completed her Masters of Architecture at the Melbourne School of Design. She has experience in a wide range of project scales and typologies, from bespoke single residential to large scale community and healthcare projects. She was also the main research coordinator for the Very Special Kids feasibility study and has well-developed expertise in community consultation projects.
Reading & Reference
- Henri Lefebvre, (1968). Right To The City in Writings on cities - Miessen, and Basar, 2006.
- Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, 1982.
- Lewis Mumford, What is a City? Architectural Record, 1937.
- Juhani Pallasmaa, The eyes of the skin : architecture and the senses, John Wiley & Sons, 2005
- John Berger, Ways of Seeing. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.
- Rosalind Krauss, Sculpture and the Expanded Field, MIT Press, 1979.
- Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows, 1933.
- Brockett and Hildy, History of the Theater, 1968; 10th ed. 2010.
Additional readings and reference material will be provided throughout the semester.
Travel: Week 2 | $25
ST1/27 Mondays 18:15-21:15 in MSD Room 124
ST2/27 Thursdays 18:15-21:15 in MSD Room 139