Artistic Carvings Make for Cutting-Edge Architecture
Modern architecture makes room for decoration with artistic designs carved into exterior concrete and interior wood
While building materials often provide plenty of character through their inherent properties — the warmth and texture of wood, the veining of marble, the color of tile — they can also become a canvas for artistic expression.
In particular, concrete allows great amounts of expression, given the way it is formed and the time needed for it to set. These houses offer inspiration for exploring artistic texture both on exteriors and in interiors.
In particular, concrete allows great amounts of expression, given the way it is formed and the time needed for it to set. These houses offer inspiration for exploring artistic texture both on exteriors and in interiors.
Scenes of nature cover his own house in Ottawa, Ontario. Here is a close-up of the whale visible in the previous photo. Griffin spent the most effort not on the whale itself but on the "water" background, which gives the wall its texture.
LineBox Studios helped Griffin realize the conversion of an early 1900s Prairie-style building with a commercial extension into a residence for him and his family. The structure also includes an "organic skin care confectionary" his wife runs.
As the first photo makes clear, the house is not composed solely of concrete surfaces. Reclaimed wood from inside the house was reused on the exterior, breaking up the gray. A strong contrast also happens with reclaimed cedar for the deck and fence. Yet it's still the concrete areas that grab the attention, such as the one with the deer on the second floor in this photo.
This detail of a concrete wall really captures Griffin's comparison with cave walls. The simplified animals not only recall the famous images of cave paintings, but they also appear to tell a story. The coloring of the different panels works with the images, so the animals trek across the green ground.
Zooming out a little, we can see that the walls are a canvas for even more artistic expression.
Laser-Cut Designs in Victoria, Australia
S2 Design created three townhouses built around a landmark 1920s electrical substation in Balaclava, Victoria, Australia. Of concern here is a precast concrete wall that forms the south edge of the residences. You can see the undulating line of the wall in the center of this photo.
S2 Design created three townhouses built around a landmark 1920s electrical substation in Balaclava, Victoria, Australia. Of concern here is a precast concrete wall that forms the south edge of the residences. You can see the undulating line of the wall in the center of this photo.
Most of the 100-foot-long wall is about 20 feet high, but at its high point it tops off near 30 feet. Rough aggregate marks the tops of most of the panels, but the significant expressions are the reliefs by artist Damon Kowarsky.
Kowarsky's artwork was transferred to digital files that were used to laser cut the shapes into formwork. So unlike Christopher Griffin's quick marks in wet concrete, Kowarsky's art is figured out and aided by intermediate steps before the concrete is even mixed.
In a few areas, glass blocks are set into the concrete panels, serving bathrooms in the residences on the other side of the wall. Kowarsky and S2's work comes together at these moments.
A Cutting-Edge Kitchen in Colorado
Colorado's Design Platform redesigned a midcentury ranch's kitchen around an island faced with reclaimed barnwood. From this view we can see that something interesting is going on beneath the surface of the cantilevered table.
Colorado's Design Platform redesigned a midcentury ranch's kitchen around an island faced with reclaimed barnwood. From this view we can see that something interesting is going on beneath the surface of the cantilevered table.
A closer look reveals an artistic treatment of the surface, with abstract tree-like shapes visible through cuts in the reclaimed wood. This layered artwork is the handiwork of Tandi Venter, whose paintings and jewelry are inspired by midcentury design; many of her pieces actually incorporate Eames furniture and the like.
Canadian artist Christopher Griffin likens today's concrete walls to prehistoric cave walls. His markings in concrete are "surprisingly similar," he says, to ancient cave petroglyphs and pictographs.