WEEK 1 - THE INTERIOR IN HISTORY/THEORY - PHIP MURRAY

INTERIOR. HISTORY. CHANGE. CONTINUATION.

Phip Murrays lecture and Edward Hollis's The Secret Lives of Buildings ignite an understanding of the ephemeral nature of buildings and interiority through exploring the transitional uses of the Parthenon through history. Edward Hollis writes of buildings outliving the "purposes", "technologies" and "aesthetics" “for which they were built.”;1 suffering from "subtractions, additions, divisions, and multiplications" that soon disconnect their original from the intended function.  

This reality contrasts to the ideal of ‘The Architects Dream’; where “the real world is stranger and more dreamlike than a painted dream”1

When a building is altered there is a retelling of the buildings existence in time, “and when the changes are complete it becomes the existing building for the next retelling. In this way the life of the building is both perpetuated and transformed by the repeated act of alternation and reuse.”1

We were asked to visit the NGV at the time of the exhibition of Melbourne Now.  I was most inspired by an installation “sampling the city”; exploring the make up Melbourne’s architectural culture. Using small tiles provided, one could build individual structures, that you were encouraged to share through social media.  I liked the idea of using both collaboration and individuality  to portray  influences on the architectural makeup of Melbourne. I felt this related to Phip Murrays lecture in relation to the creation of history through the ephemeral aspects of design.   

My visual response relates to this concept. I decided to collaborate with friends to build a miniature or ‘sample’ city in a matter of hours from found materials. The individual ‘interiors’, (although not physically inhabitable) produced were unique, yet as a whole created an ephemeral city. This then becomes a microcosm of the creation and destruction of histories through architecture. The city becomes a history in itself. 

1Edward Hollis 'introduction - The Architects Dream' (pp. 1-14) and 'The Parthenon, Athens - In which a virgin is Ruined' (pp. 15-42) from The Secret Lives Of Buildings: From the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories (Portobello Books: 2009).