ETERNAL STRUCTURE

How do we convey permanence through materiality and form? The Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna exemplifies the perceptioin of a temporary condition merged with a permanent one. How can we identify what visual elements make something permanent, and apply them to something else?
In brick and marble system of Resolve, the percieved permanence of the marble granted to it by its massiveness and ornate detailing is transfered to the brick in the form of bespoke cutting and hyper-specific conditions. As only these bricks can work in this system to bestow a usable tectonic to the otherwise over-complicated back face of the marble blocks, they communicate to the viewer that they must remain where they are – that they are permanent. The same assembly of permanent marble and brick can be built on over again and again with different temporary systems as needed. The assembly becomes a new form of structure, untethered by notions of "wall," "column," or "slab."
Ultimately, the project proposes an array of permanent brick and marble assemblies to recreate notable Bologna typologies: piazzas, porticos, and colonades. South-facing marble weathers gracefully over time in the sun, and North-facing bricks create pockets of shade and pools of water for plant life to flourish.

701 Studio / Instructor: Barry Wark
In collaboration with Roxanne Zhou
Published in Pressing Matters XIII