Displace Non-Place

George Epolito

This studio option acknowledges our contemporary condition as one that is filled with inherent [binary] oppositions and contradictions which inform our everyday experiences. The studio option accepts the premise that place is defined physically by varying degrees of enclosure and metaphysically by those aspects deemed intangible in relation to the human beings [bodies] who occupy the space.

Given this premise the studio option seeks to push the boundaries of understanding, or the potential relationships between, the physical and metaphysical qualities of a place. The studio investigation is located in a spatially and socio-economically marginalised condition - in a residual, abandoned space that has lost its original meaning over time. By observing the site through the fictional lens of the magical realism of Giotto and Argentine Xul Solar, can we transform its meaning? Our investigation asks if it is possible to shift perceptions of this neglected locale to a place through implementing non-conventional modes of cultural expression in architectural form and language.