On Wednesday 11th October, we held our second skills session; site analysis through collage mapping. The aim of this session was to present some new collage techniques as well as introduce them to site analysis and the creative ways they can represent a space, a building and their ideas.
Firstly, we kicked off the workshop by showcasing different eras of collage and how artists such as Henri Matisse combined collage with spatial design through his ‘Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence’. The first task was a group collage which saw each table produce one landscape and one portrait collage of buildings by responding to what the previous person had stuck down. This produced some really interesting and different responses on each table, some treating it like a puzzle, others leaving it more to chance.
Creating individual postcard collages was the next activity, which saw the young people incorporate more tearing, colour, and abstraction to their postcard artworks. They considered complimentary colours, composition and contrast to emphasise their chosen building. Everyone’s postcard was so vibrant and different to one another but they also looked beautiful next to each other whilst on display for the remainder of the session.
Next, we introduced the concept of site analysis, emphasizing that before designing anything, an architect, landscape architect or urban designer needs to understand what the space and surrounding area that they are designing for is like. Site analyses are made by collecting research in the form of notes, surveys, maps, photographs, drawings and models, so we challenged the young people to create a site analysis collage of a space they would like to spend time in.
We shared a variety of examples showing info graphic responses to abstract collage responses. Whilst talking through the different approaches we broke down key examples to teach the young people how to analyse images. We examined composition, highlighted negative space and discussed that sometimes less is more.
Using the range of techniques we learned during the session, as well as a wealth of materials, they created vastly different spaces, representing their ideas in unique ways. Some were more abstract, others quite literal but all of them were individual.
The drive of this skills session was to teach our cohort a new way to represent their ideas and communicate ideas of space, materiality and intangible aspects of a space/building. The learned processes can easily be carried forward to portfolio preparation as well as presentations for all future Academy sessions and beyond.
A special thanks goes to PLACED’s own, Beckie Downs, who shared with the young people her career path so far. From starting on a PLACED outreach project to achieving her BA in Architecture from Loughborough University, and now working for PLACED as a Project Assistant. Beckie’s presentation introduced them to the concept of site analysis as well as a wonderfully talented architect who designs in collage, Tatiana Bilbao.
Massive thanks to everyone involved; and we look forward to our next skills session!