The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Arch ive: Pottery in Australia. Vo l 23 . No 2. November December 19 8 4 article: Rom aldo Giurgola Craft Works in Australian Architecture Throughout many years of professional work. I have come to see archllecture as the realisation of a sense of place , which In liS uilimale form IS dedicated to the resolution of the Inner contradic tions In hfe and the balancing 01 opposite forces ralher than to the mere restatement of them Architecture ,n that sense elucidates the ponel' pIes on which It IS bUill. and yet It IS not a demonstralian of a theory: rather , II characterises a place In Its human aspects and wllhln a human dimension. Furthermore. It IS an architecture neither alienated by fixed ends nor by what Ruskin calls 'the fury lor the sight of new things': on the contrary. II IS capable of revealing and containing innate connections with both the hte of the present and with pa st historical traditions. 'M ', but you say, 'what does all that have to do with the crafts?' I would reply that those connections I have been lalklng about are al the basis of an architecture of human measure . a measure uWmalely expressed by the relationship between a manufactured object and a design tradition: in a word. by craftsmanship. It IS. In fact . in craftsmanship that a symbiosis between matter and people is formed . one which requires absolute honesty in the task of tran sforming mailer into objects. The crafting of objects IS an activity in which a maker 'Ieads' while obeYing the natural laws. conscious 01 the infinite paten· lials of materials but never submitting them to an arbitrary whim. Thus craftsmanship is often a paradigm. an exemplary model to industry, to ptanning , to design , and to ethical behaviour. Craftsmanship represents an attitude in life that understands the making of the human environ· ment as a sublimating process of giving and laking . Furthermore. in respect to architecture. craftsmanship is capable of providing the linkage between the industrialised product and cultural traditions . A timber product is a timber product, both in Japan and in Scandinavia, but how differ· ently it is laboured and tooled from one place to another. and how important for human identity that difference is ! The crafts in this sense are an exponent of multiculturalism at its best: natural materials worked by hand speak a univer· sal language. equally understood by a Swede or a Japanese, and yet they also are exponents of their roots. their cultural traditions. and their points of view. They are objects which, if of high quality, have a form in which there is an innate 70 content as well the rich resonance 01 the cui· lural tradition from which they come From the very beginning of the deSign compelt· lion for the new Parllamenl House . we we re convinced that works of art and craft should be a fundamental element In the architecture of the bUIlding . The continUIng process fOf us slOce that time of aCQu lrtng a knowledge of Austrahan art and craft IS . In fact . the best chance we have had to be closer to Ihe 'real Australia' and to ItS particular view of the world. To work With artists and craftsmen al the very Inception of a proJect. rather than merely In the last fra ntic moments of completion . IS fo r me essential. Just as it is essential to work with surveyors. engineers. economists . or scholars It IS not. however . a popular Idea . In Canberra . dUring Ihe beginnings of de Sign development. my associates and I. including Pam Berg (who is co-ordinating the works of art and craft for the new Parliament House in our olllce). prepared a conceptual approach to the develop· ment of an integrated programme of art and craft for the building. This approach was formulated with the contributions of Au stralians from all walks of life whose views we had sought. We also began our own private work in the oH ice with Individual craftsmen: for example . we invited Peter Travis to come to work with us on colour tong before materiats were beginning to be selec· ted for the interiors of the building, and crafts· men such as leon Sadubin were consulted (in addition to the usual consultalion with industry) on the chOice and handting of timber, and other craftsworkers for materials such as metal and fabrics. The formal Art Programme . within which we have been working for two years on the development of individuaJ commissions. has many people invol· ved. A national Art Advisory Committee made up of artists. administrators. gallery directors, historians, and parliamentarians was formed to advise the Construction Authority. and a Curator has been appointed to the Authority·s staff. The existence of such a programme. planned carefulty from the very inception of the building. is a rather unique event as far as public buildings are con· cerned. and it is not being implemented without difficulties. But I an convinced it shall be suc· cessful. since the art programme is an outgrowth of the conviction in all 01 our minds that one 01 96 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010
Archive: Pottery in Australia. Vol 23. No 2. November Decem ber 1984 the primary ways in which Australia can seek the identity of a particular culture is through the work 01 its artists and c raitsworkers. Obviously . that aspiration alone does not guarantee the quality of the final result. We artists or designers are accustomed to live on takmg risks : they are risks. however, founded upon the hope that something better may eventually result. In working together for well-stated purposes, those hopes seem to be more substantial. more encompassing in time. Our expec· tations about architecture and the crafts are drfferent today from those in the time ot Wilham Morris and John Ruskin. The Arts and Crall Movement of that period had different moti· vations. Our understanding of architecture is past the point 01 being a linite, stylistically rigid obleCt on which works of art, however large in size. have only a role of mere commentary or. at the opposite extreme, in which the details are can · fined to the abstract perfection of machine extrusions. Those were perhaps the standards 01 modernism which were idealistic just as post-modernlsm is political, and which were authoritarian. a spiring, and aiming for the best in modernism, just as post·modernism is ana rchistic . aimless. and searching for the popular. Words like 'modernism' and 'post-modernism ' sound nice: probably they are there 10 help. But I am less and less sure 01 what modernism and post-modernism are. In architecture and in art we must search for something beyond those tenuous connections that words make to the things they intend to deSCribe . All 1 know is that we are searching for more innate connectIOns that bring us closer to the places 01 our beginnings. The work 01 cralts· workers is able to suggest those connections. and their work is an aid in collaborating toward an architecture that goes beyond Ruskin's description 01 the 'fury for the Sight of new things' or the singlehanded delivery of images mirroring circumstances. Instead. we are striving lor an architecture that is generated at the confluence of the work of a vast body of artists. scholars. engineers. economists, and so fo rth. all of them having an accurate knowledge of their business. yet also possessing an unaffected imagination constantly related in the project to each other 's work. In this vast collaboration. we aU hope to find a sense of worth in doing something thai is not an end in itself but a true enhancement ollile Itsell. In summa ry, during the past three years, we have had the oppor tunity to come in contact ~i t ~ many craltsworkers in this country, from the vltahty and excellence 01 those associated with the Art Schools and the people associated With cralts working in the big cities , to that remarka.ble 'gang' ot Tasmanian artists intent on their work In timber, leather. clay and fabrics. Rather .than Irom the ephemeral att ractions of an ever Imprecise technology such as those repr esented by the bUIlding Industry . Australian architects may well find inSpirat ion In the human precISion and generosity 01 these craftsworkers. In tum. the craftsworkers themselves may also find that in integratmg thelf work with architecture. they may achieve a greater substance In their art. Rynne Tanton Wall (1982). Stoneware Clay. modelled and cut 3.6 m x 3.3 m. Client and Archlteel: Depaflment 01 Construction Locallon: Henry House. Launceston. Photo: Mark BarlkeViclVs. V/fIcenr McGrath Wall ( 1979- 80J Clay - Feeneys raku. handbu,Ulormar drvlded /fI to modular elements. 3 m J( "m. Client: Altorney·GeneraJ's Depattment. Archltecl: Department 01 Housing and Construction. LocatlOfl: Foyer. Court· house. Ailce Spflngs. Photo: Gunther DetChmann. Les Blakebrough Wall Bannsrs (1982). Stoneware Illes and ta CQue, screens on sralfl/ess steel supports. Overall size 3 m )( 5 5. m. C1Ienl: Umverslty of Ta smania. Loca tIOn 5" Slanley BU/bUry Theatre. UllIverst'y ot Tasmania. Photo Ufta Schultze. Romaldo Giurgola, FRAIA, is lhe sentOr parmer in MltchelllGiurgola & Thorp, architects tOt the New Parhament House. Canberra. These remarks were made at the opening of the e)l;hlbilion, Craft Works in Ausualian Arctutecture . Architecture Gallery. North Sydney. organiSed by the Crails Board of the Australia Council. 7t THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010 97
Page 2:
Clean Efficient Electric & Gas Kiln
Page 8 and 9:
Editorial Aftpr a wonderful two·we
Page 10 and 11:
Now + Then The Australian Ceramics
Page 13:
3
Page 17 and 18:
Tribute 1 left to right: Martha, Tr
Page 19 and 20:
Tribute 1 + 2 Trudie teaching at a
Page 21 and 22:
lrianna Kanellopoulou, Frederik, 20
Page 23 and 24:
Profile Irianna Kanellopoulou. Say
Page 25 and 26:
Focus : Architectural Ceramics Abov
Page 27 and 28:
~----------------------------------
Page 29 and 30:
Focus: Architectural Ceram ics Char
Page 31 and 32:
hinting towards an animated wallpap
Page 33 and 34:
Focus: Archi tectural Cera mics Abo
Page 35:
Focus : Architectural Ceramics Ken
Page 38:
Focus: Architectural Ceramics Above
Page 41:
Focus: Architectural Ceramics
Page 44 and 45:
Focus : Architectural Ceramics Mud
Page 46 and 47:
Focus: Architectural Ceramics Top:
Page 48 and 49:
Fo cus: Architectural Ceramics 1 Pi
Page 50 and 51:
Focus: Architectural Ceramics Tiles
Page 52 and 53: Focu s: Architectural Ceramics 1 Or
Page 54 and 55: Technical: Mosa ic Sophie Verrecchi
Page 56 and 57: Technical: Mosaic -: ...._--- .._.
Page 58 and 59: Tech nical: Mosaic Making tiles and
Page 60 and 61: Technical: Mosaic WOlklng on the pa
Page 62 and 63: Techn ical: Mosaic The Shyness of T
Page 64 and 65: Penaga Leaf showing detail of small
Page 66 and 67: View A Panoply of Glowing Colours I
Page 68 and 69: View (1230-S0°C), and lustre (780
Page 70 and 71: View A Journey Beyond the Literal T
Page 72 and 73: View Vipoo Srivilasa, Scarecrow, Wi
Page 74 and 75: Workshop Jill Klopfer. bowl Making
Page 76 and 77: Workshop f/ -... --~,*, Far left: C
Page 78 and 79: Wo rkshop Photo: courtesy Dominic J
Page 80 and 81: Process and Meaning leaving faint r
Page 82 and 83: Bali loves Dragons! Sue Buckle shar
Page 84 and 85: Inside My Studio Szilvia Gyorgy in
Page 86 and 87: Inside My Studio Above and right: 5
Page 88 and 89: Ceramic Spaces Making Sense Ross Lo
Page 90 and 91: Ceramic Spaces Phil Elson, thrown p
Page 92 and 93: Ceramic Spaces Right: Ingo Svendsen
Page 96 and 97: Community Left to right: Deanne Ive
Page 98 and 99: Co m munity left to right standing:
Page 100 and 101: Wedge Dee Taylor-Graham Do I have t
Page 104 and 105: Welt Read Alan Peascod: Artist of E
Page 106 and 107: Well Read Iznik Pottery and Tiles i
Page 108 and 109: Australia Wide act By the time this
Page 110 and 111: Australia Wide Leo Nuehoffer and Ki
Page 112 and 113: Stockists ACT canberra potters soci
Page 114 and 115: Become a member The Australian Cera
Page 116 and 117: Classifieds CERAMIC SUPPLIES CUSTOM
Page 118: Classifieds NATIONAL ART SCHOOL. SY
Page 121 and 122: NOW OPEN SYDNEY FACTORY SHOWROOM 21
Page 123 and 124: www.gregpiper. com . au ceramic fin
Page 125 and 126: CERAMIC STUDY GROUP Inc. Ceramic St
Page 128 and 129: CLAYWORKS CLAVWORKS POITERS SUPPLY
Page 130 and 131: :;Z°1 " ," ~ _ _ Gallery , " '" '
Page 133 and 134: Contents Volume 49#1 April 2010 S16
Page 135 and 136: PRO ••••• A special event
Page 137: Feeneys Clays WALKER ~ Clays Glazes
show all

The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?