Fashion changes constantly, renewing itself season after season. We could therefore argue that mutability is its main attribute. Architecture finds itself instead on the other edge of the spectrum, a building after all it's static and can't therefore be easily changed every few months. Mutability and changing spaces are the main themes of the Netherlands Pavilion at the 13th Venice International Architecture Biennale.
Curated by Ole Bouman, Director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI), the project showcased at the pavilion is designed by Inside Outside's Petra Blaisse and it is entitled "Re-set". The pavilion consists in an empty space delineated by a long curtain in metallic, neutral and matte shades that moves every five minutes, giving visitors the impression of constantly finding themselves in a renewed space.
As the curtain flows through the interior space, it reconfigures its organisation and creates new rooms. The Inside Outside team is not new to these kind of shifting curtains that, installed on 1 continuous track, redesign the space in accordance with the program they are set at: the team recently designed curtains for a new army villa, the Kromhout Kazerne designed by Meyer & van Schooten and based in Utrecht, coming up with innovative camouflage-like textiles based on army materials that, thanks to their different consistencies, create a very interesting play of light and shadow.
The installation is a sequel to the 2010 Dutch submission, entitled Vacant NL, that also looked at the potential of disused buildings in the Netherlands.
Mutability and iridescences were also the main themes of Jonathan Saunders' Spring/Summer 2013 collection.
Inspired by Michael Clarke's dancers, Saunders included in his collection garments in which transformation was a key point. In some cases an iridescent silvery or golden skirt was matched with a nude top, but the two-piece combo revealed a morphing yet uniform black back, and the trick repeated in Saunders' brightly coloured sequinned cardigans and skirts that from behind were all grey or acid yellow.
Saunders applied visual deception to his designs characterised by optical iridescent vertical, horizontal or chevron stripes that were maybe printed on fabric and maybe on leather, but gave an interesting graphic effect to the designs otherwise characterised by simple shapes and silhouettes. In a way both the installation at the Dutch Pavilion and Saunders' collection move from one main point - flexible and tactile intervention applied to space or to a garment, and the possibility of creating new mutating perspectives through such intervention.
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