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Memorial Wall Building Section
In the blink of an eye, my first Interior Architecture Studio Course is complete! Over the fall'22 semester, I soaked up every bit of information from my professor, Dean Isham, and our class's TA, Lily Gresham, that I possibly could. The last 15 weeks showed me a broad introduction to basic architectural design skills; our class hand drafted, learned the basics of photoshop & illustrator, and modeled our first 3D structures in SketchUp. Most of our class time was spent learning SketchUp across a few significant assignments; the first project was Shubui.
Shubui Final Display Board
The brief for this design was centered around the Kyoto Imperial Gardens in Japan and the artistic style of Shubui: a natural, unobtrusive beauty, simple and clean aesthetics resembling modern Japanese-contemporary. Students design an entryway experience leading into the Gardens using five "parallel" walls to create interest and balance, exemplifying Shubui.
The constraints require one artwork as the focus of the exhibit and a single color from the work that will be the only color used across all materials except wood and one accent material. The project also had a portion about human dimensions and the application of the student's measurements to the elements of the final concept.
This was a perfect project to start the show; I aimed to create something original and challenging. My rendition focused on the cohesion of individual elements viewed from a specific perspective joining to create a greater whole. Each of my walls is perfectly parallel to all other walls; the first four walls are separate quarters of one complete circle centered around the fifth wall, with the chosen artwork and refuge areas for visitors.
Kenzo Okada was my main Shubui inspiration; I fell in love with his masterpieces. Okada's "Untitled," oil on canvas, perfectly fit my vision. The hues of this painting pushed me in precisely the right direction of lilac and periwinkle.
For the first third of the semester, I was happily engaged with the Kyoto Imperial Gardens. For the latter third, I was introduced to my latest project: Memorial Wall.
Memorial Wall Final Display Board
Memorial Wall is a 53'x18'x5' exhibit in the main space of the Pine Ridge Reservation Native-American History Museum. Four significant lines decorate the wall on display and take the viewer through the visual narrative created around experience. The lines were drawn on an 18x18 grid that expanded across the whole surface to create a uniform pattern. Each line has independent properties required by the project and adds a unique layer to the linear progression.
The grid to the right is the second concept I pursued; my first attempt was unremarkable. In this layout, I maximized and reused the sizing of space between the grid lines to allow for more workable negative space to insert the narrative photos. I struggled to find the vision for this project and eventually realized I needed a more shocking and entertaining narrative to tell. That's when I saw the most critical Lakota Religious Ceremony: The Sun Dance.
Historically in Sioux Tribes, the Sun Dance occurs annually at the end of spring/beginning of summer. The main event focuses on a small group of supplicants, but all members of the tribes gathering partake in the celebration and preparation of the preliminary ceremonies. A small group of individuals will seek power or insight from the supernatural and experience the grueling tradition of self-mutilation and sacrifice.
Isometric Side A
Participants dance at a specific time dictated by religious leaders and continuously move for days without sustenance. The highest acts of devotion are shown through piercing the chest or back with skewers, stringing them to the top of a central pole that the dancers move around, and a heavy object attached to the skewers, which the dancer would then drag in his movement around the circle. Dancers worked to pull hard enough to rip the skewer out of their flesh and free themselves from the entanglement. If dancers could not release themselves or succumbed to their fatigue, other members of the tribe would pull against the taught rope to aid the dancer in freeing himself. Days of recovery and care are required afterward.
Isometric Side B
I chose to emphasize the action of self-mutilation as the highest form of sacrifice and the spiritual connection to the sun. All of the images selected display an aspect of the ceremony from varying perspectives to illustrate the complexity of the tradition from an interpersonal relationship lens. The sun is displayed across the wall in varying symbols and positions as a narrative following the passage of time and multiple days needed for the ceremony.
Textures on the wall represent the essential elements accepted by the Lakota tribe, specifically fire and air for the red and yellow lines. The movement and the gradual shift of the lines as the timeline progresses. This wall is in loving memorial of modern Sioux history since the Ghost Dance Massacre in 1890. Since the Sun Dance was the precursor ceremony that was banned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1880s. As a result of refusing the Sun Dance, the Ghost Dance was planned and unfortunately interrupted in 1890.
Memorial Wall was an enjoyable shift in perspective, opening to new cultures and celebrating non-conformist religious ceremonies. While I struggled to find inspiration in the beginning, I am so satisfied with my final design and appreciate the history of the Lakota tribe from a new lens.
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