Untriumphal Arch (2017)
'Shack' Stage for Brainchild Festival with Oscar Walheim and Richard Boyd
The design concept takes the usually heroic and magnificent architectural typology of the triumphal arch, used by ancient civilisations as symbols of power and pomp, and turns it on its head: a completely unhumble form applied to the humble functions of a shack. The unusual material choice of wire mesh reduces the structure down to a ghost form that works with, rather than competes against the woodland around it. The ‘blank canvas’ nature of the essentially transparent structure means that everyone can interpret the structure in their own individual and constantly changing way as they move around it, the layered mesh creating a moiré effect in front of the leafy woodland beyond. Key project references were Anthony Gormley's Second Body and Edoardo Tresoldi's various wire mesh installations.
The primary material is galvanised 2.5mm wire mesh, which was cut and folded from standard 2.4m by 1.2m sheets. The roof is 4mm multiwall polycarbonate. The structure is joined together with periodic 1.5mm steel wire ties. Structural design of the folds and seams, combined with internal vertical and lateral bulkheads, turns the flexible native materials into a rigid final structure. The base of the structure is clamped down to a 'platform' made from painted 18mm OSB timber, which is in turn fastened to the scaffolding foundation frame with U-bolts. The structure was constructed over two days by two people with simple tools and a modest material budget of £700.
