Art gallery: questioning topographic and institutional edges by sculpting inhabitable thresholds

Abstract

The University of the Free State boasts with a collection of 1500 artworks which are rotated between the Main Building, the Eeufees Building and storage space. In a personal interview with Mrs De Jesus, the curator at the Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery on campus, it became evident that the University is in need of an art gallery which should entice a dialogue between the art and the visitor. She stated that the gallery should not be a destination building but rather an interactive proposal.

The concept of an art gallery as a transient space comes from investigating the campus as a large site. The campus used to be an open part of town where the exact boundary between the campus and the city was unclear. Families could enjoy the gardens on weekends and pedestrians were able to take a shortcut through campus and interact with students in the passing. Due to security reasons, the campus was closed off and boundaries reinforced. This enforced a threshold between students and the public. The proposed project aims to embody the boundary of campus in order to develop the harsh edge into a perforated entrance through the art gallery.

The design of an art gallery intrigued me, as the main denominator of its morphology is light.

“𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗯𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.” (𝗠𝗲𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲)

I have always been fascinated by the way architectural elements can be manipulated in order to create a shadow line or light shaft which allows for the replacement of a typical window punched into a wall. Light is the main denominator of form in this project through the way the archetypes are sculpting away the sky and embedding itself into the earth.

This investigation focuses on the way that an art gallery, as a transient space rather than a destination building, can allow the public a glimpse into the world of art. This is done by intriguing people during their ordinary path.

The need for the project was raised by the curator of the University of the Free State because of a lack of exhibition and storage space on campus. Therefore, the project will focus on the design of a gallery space and archive on the campus of the UFS.