Space Popular Lecture by C. Fredrik V. Hellberg
Tuesday 06th March 2019
Oxford Brookes Architecture Society
Space Popular are a design and research architecture practice based in London, but started out in Bangkok, Thailand. Space popular were founded by Swedish-born Fredrik Hellberg and Lara Lesmes. They are strong proponents of the idea that architecture is constructed in the mind and that it is a portal into new realities. Realising this, they engage in architectural proposals as well as augmented reality, temporary exhibitions and virtual reality.
The Glass Chain
Fredrik began by describing one of their most recent exhibitions, the Glass Chain, in London in 2017. The work was inspired by Wenzel Hablik, a German architect who was designing in the 1910s and the 1920s. He was part of a group that were called the Glass Chain, they believed that glass would be the future for architecture. But not in the way that we perceive it now. They believed in seeing glass as ornament, and not just something to see through or a blank 'facade' which has now been interpreted as an 'international style of architecture' or a 'non-material' as Fredrik described it. Instead they believed using glass, colours and lights; architectural spaces could reveal different spatial qualities to other materials. Gropius was actually part of the group.
Taking the Bruno Taut Glass Pavilion (the only structure the Glass Chain group constructed), they reinterpreted the drawings and created a spatial exhibition experience as a reinterpretation of their work. The video below describes the exhibition:
Fredrik then showed us a 5-minute clip, exclusive footage which has only been shown once previously, which showed the footage they placed in the VR headsets of those in the exhibition. The VR experience turned the exhibition space and the physical glass material into a whole spatial experience. The spaces illustrated in the coloured glass became animated, and those standing in the space could reach out as though they could touch the space. The VR experience exaggerated the depth in the 2D space of the glass into a 3D space.
The Virtual
Space Popular place a high value on virtual architecture. They have even proposed 10 values for virtual architecture through their website:
Virtual content will radically alter the value of architecture
Values will be both gained and lost in the transition to the virtual
Virtual worlds will intensify our interest and appreciation of the physical environments
Architecture will be appreciated by the spatial experience it provides
Spatial experiences will become increasingly specific and tailored to its dwellers
Planetary scale virtual worlds will coexist with their physical counterparts
Peripheral attention will broaden from objects and faces to facades and streets
Virtual craftsmanship will gain appreciation as virtual worlds become the norm
Social appreciation will manifest visually as embellishments to our attire and environments
Attire and architecture will blend into a continuous extension of the self
It is important to consider that the virtual is nothing new. It has always been an element of architecture. Consider the fresco on top of a cathedral dome, [or stained glass windows], they are all virtual spaces.
- Fredrik Hellberg
Fredrik stated that there are eight values of physical architecture (it can be argued whether there are more as well, but Space Popular have narrowed it down to):
Scale - Function - Material - Location - Energy - Comfort - Aesthetics - Meaning
The first five are quantitative features, that can only be expressed in the physical, whereas the final three are qualitative, where the final two (meaning and aesthetics) are what are pushed forward in the virtual.
The Timber Hearth
The Timber Hearth was an exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 2018. It was developed through recognising the system that old Swedish farm houses used of having the hearth (härd)as the centre of the building. It was the source of light and warmth.
From the richly decorated brick stoves of the 18th century to the colourful tiled stoves (kakelugn) of the 19th century the hearth has served as the centre of architecture both practically and symbolically.
Fredrik argues that with the introduction of complex systems linked to heat, plumbing and electricity, this sense of the 'centre' of the home has been lost. Although advancements in technology has meant that we can have much more flexible spaces in architecture and be have more open larger spaces as well, it has meant that buildings have become more complex. We need specialists to ensure each element is correctly constructed but it also means self-build is now more complex.
Recognising this, Space Popular proposed the Timber Hearth. A system in which the heating, plumbing and electrics are constructed separately and imported at the end of the construction phase. So that the rest of the structure can be constructed by the regular person who wishes to self-build.
Take-Away Points
I was inspired by Fredrik's talk. Both by the illustration techniques that Space Popular use, from model-making to graphics, as well as by their ingenuity and thinking outside of traditional architecture by engaging with the virtual. It made me consider the work that I previously engaged in with the 'Digital Environments', and further made me consider that this could be incorporated in a way of 'story-telling' for the objects that would be used within the Cemetery of Consumerism.
Fredrik believes that the virtual is inevitably going to be a major part of our lives - just as in the same way that mobile phones and our 'virtual screens' have become inartistically part of our day-to-day. I believe this could be a reality, but perhaps not to the extent that he imagines. However, people probably felt the same about the 'virtual' internet and mobile phone but they have become realities that most people engage with. The talk made me consider further how I could engage with the virtual to represent the spaces and the system that I aim to develop, and I am encouraged by the work that Space Popular are doing.
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