Installation/Intervention in Concrete Geometries: The Relational in Architecture

Cottell was commissioned to produce a floor-level installation/intervention for the Architectural Association’s Concrete Geometries Research Cluster exhibition ‘The Relational in Architecture’ at the AA by its directors Marianne Mueller and Olaf Kneer. Public/student use of this installation during AA seminars and events was recorded in photographs.

The commissioning process was as follows: Part 1: in January 2010, the Cluster directors made an international open call for practical and theoretical contributions to 2 thematic fields ‘Geometry and Perception’ and ‘Geometry and Social processes’ (415 submissions); from which they selected a Preview exhibition (15 May -5th June 2010) (50 works), including documentation of Cottell’s ‘House Projects’. Part 2: Cottell was invited to present the ‘House Projects’ at the CG AA Public Symposium 15th October 2010 (22 international artists and Architects). The participants at this symposium requested that Cottell should develop/design a structure for exhibition as manifesto, live experiment and support structure with multiple possible functions e.g. as temporary auditorium, seat, corridor, meeting table and roof. There are thirty active participants of the Concrete Geometries Research Cluster, including academics and practitioners from Harvard, Pratt, Sci–Arc, Royal College of Art, TU Berlin, University of Applied Arts Vienna.