Views from Site location

Site - Little Manly Beach

The site in my opinion holds a great atmosphere as to how the client can escape the entrapment of modern life and look for something peaceful and relaxing. A terrific ocean view can take the attention of the client and help forget about the worries of life.

Terrific lighting both day and night can display a wide range of environmental wonders in little manly which can hence also release the client from the entrapment and stress of modern life.

Starting idea:

To construct a meeting place for a someone who would like to get away from the troubles in life and to find a place to relax.

The outer most point of little manly where there is concrete work is the location of the design, as it captures not only a fantastic view of the city, but sunlight light that is shone at sunrise, sunset and througout the entire day.

# levels: 2

atmospheric view: holiday house feel, while still keeping the idea of meeting place for a fashionable woman who would like the escape entrapment.

main construction ideas: many windows, lighting procedure very important! as well as views.

Idea of Narrative

"A getaway meeting place for a fashionably young woman who has the desire to escape the entrapment of modern life"

Edward Hopper: Chop Suey (1929)

Artist reviews: Edward Hopper and his painting Chop Suey

Modern realism is a twentieth century art movement that occurred in America and Britain. It is defined mainly by the innovative ways the artists produce everyday scenes. Consumerism and modern life were big influencers on this movement. The painting Chop Suey (1929) by Edward Hopper displays the similarities between the consumerist topos of modern realism and the synonymous movement of Pop Art. While Pop Art was influenced more by consumerism through products, planned obsolescence, advertising etc, modern realism focused more on everyday life with modern living as a back drop.


Chop Suey depicts two women inside a restaurant. They sit not relaxed facing each other and at a table by a window. Outside the window is an advertisement that in its entirety, based on title of the painting, says CHOP SUEY. The sign is red with large letters with red, orange and blue light bulbs. The woman and the sign make two halves to this picture. The restaurant itself is dark. The only light appears to be coming from the window. By the ladies there is a lamp, but it is unlit. In the background another couple sit, the man almost in complete darkness. The woman facing the viewer is staring outwards from the picture with black eyes, rather than at her friend. She is in plain clothes, and has an attractive yet plain face. In this half of the painting the palette is dark and neutral with blacks, greys, whites and browns.
The other half, the sign is red. The brightness of the red seeps into the darkness of the restaurant through the wall colour as seen in the window area, and a red coat hanging on the wall. The window has a panel in the bottom which blocks the view of the couple if they were to look outside. In the background there is a ladder visible.
Altogether these two sections connote some interesting dichotomies. For example, there is an opposition of living versus detachment. The bright sign and light outside represents the vibrancy of modern life whereas inside the women are detached from this by the darkness, by the window panel, and by the desolate expressions on the main woman's face. This 'emotional detachment' conveys a second dichotomy; acceptance versus escape. The expressionless woman, and the darkness around the other figures suggests entrapment by modern life. The viewer looks from inside the restaurant, trapped with the subjects. The coat on the wall hints to the outside. However it is unworn, left on the wall. Its owner is not obvious. The motionlessness of the people in the scene represent an acceptance of this entrapment. In contrast the ladder, just visible from the window, connotes the possibility of escape. However it is inaccessible.

Overall Chop Suey appears to depict a view of modern life that is desolate but also matter-of-fact. The influence of consumerism on the city are depicted here by the sign in the window. However the emotional detachment of the woman represents a blaze attitude to this changing scenery. The people are kept in the dark here while the light comes from the outside. The strong palette emphasizes an eerie atmosphere and a feeling of exclusion, of isolation.

http://www.www.helium.com/items/779643-artist-reviews-edward-hopper-and-his-painting-chop-suen

Project 2: Room & Narrative

You will transform a painting of domestic interior scene, either from a 17 th-century Dutch painting or that of Edward Hopper in the early 20 th century, into a series of inhabitable rooms. The ambience, or the spatial and textual qualities, of the painting are to be explored in architectonic and yet expressive manners. You are encouraged to uncover the original narrative of the assigned painting, or to superimpose a narrative onto the painting, and then to 'materialize' this narrative into a 'receptacle' that is inhabited by human figures. The meaningful roles of windows and doors will be studied in order to understand the significance of the demarcation between the internalized room and the outside world. You will begin to 'contaminate' architectonics with envisaged human occupation in this project.

Model Photos

Model Photos taken at day of Exhibition