amsterdam
houses
- 2018
During my first year at the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, I became deeply intrigued by how Amsterdam is supported just as Venice, by thousands of wooden piles submerged in water and mud. This observation offered a new perspective on the city, revealing an hidden fragility and at the same time a clever and intricate systems of support and adaptation, highlight a shared narrative of precariousness and resilience. Having lived in different countries, I am always curious to find particularities in each culture as well as similarities and differences.
Inspired by Mondrian’s work and driven by a broader curiosity about anthropology, architecture, and in general ways of living, I began creating a series of sculptures. These works were inspired by the unique foundation of Amsterdam and its resonance with Venice. Like the construction of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, this new series of pile dwelling/sculptures emphasise a different use of space and view of gravity since the there is a lighter structure at the bottom of the architecture, where thanks to the plies, in the case of my work air passes through and the full weight is lifted on the upper part, opposite to a more classical architecture.
The sculptures were crafted from up-cycled cardboard sourced from the academy, local supermarkets, and my own home. This choice of materials not only reflects my artistic practice by choosing mediums I am surrounded by in daily life, but also emphasises the themes of the project. An emblematic allusion and affinity to the fragility and resilience of life, suggesting maintenance, attention and care just as in life, as a way to relate to this apparent fragile yet fascinating structural system.