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Beyond Space

Part 2 Project 1999
Nicholas James Daccus
 University of Liverpool | UK
BEYOND SPACE - THESIS 99

The Thesis allows a seldom offered opportunity to expand upon a knowledge built in the previous years of architectural education, and one which must be taken in the spirit of exploration.

For me this meant a detachment from that which is considered the main stream of architectural thought and to begin questioning that which we rely upon from a slightly different 'perspective'.

The three months took me through various stages and considerations, beging with a painting found in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool,"The Ruins of Holyrood chapel", 1824, by Louis Dagguerre. Executed through the use of a 'camera obscura' it proved pivotal to numerous post-enlightment concerns upon which we now trade. It is through understanding these concerns, their possibilities and short comings, that we may begin to evolve a contemporary Language.
I began by deconstructing its geometries, content, nuiance and distortion so as to begin to understand it form a base point, ignoring, for the while,its seductive oil tones. It became evidently important to study the piece in relation to the time of its production and contempoary consequence - considering its production as a level of simulated reality and its authentication through the use of the tool - continuing the rationality of the machine, and the irrationality of nature in the picturesque. Through translating the cognitive stages of interaction I was able to materialise my concerns and exploration in the form of a contemporary folly upon Everton hill providing vistas accross the city. From key moments in the buildings plan we are able to challenge the notion of both near and far, scale and authenticity in the appropriation of such vistas.


Nicholas James Daccus

Over the last two years, Nick has emerged as an extremely thoughtful architect, ever willing and keen on expanding the boundaries of his architecture by addressing issues which are normally regarded as positioned outside the realm of architecture. Nick began the thesis by considering a painting now at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, executed in 1824 using the 'camera obscura'. This took him into examining a series of post-enlightenment concerns for which, he realised, the painting stood as a hinge. These issues were contextualised and materialised, which brought them into the realm of the experiential and the buildable. Drawings, physical models and computer modelling and animation were employed. Nicks ability to grapple with quite complex ideas and his obsession with turning those into physical realities is his greatest strength. He is also a highly accomplished computer modeller.
1999
Cover slide providing overview of completed folly, route and context.
Drawing showing investigation into the paintings geometries. This highlights how the painting was constructed and the conflict arising through the artists reliance upon Cartesian geometries when using the Camera obscura to produce a simulated reality.
Photograph of one in a series of models developing ideas of trapped conciousness when immersed in the process of vision
Drawing in preperation for an installation which was to chart a number of routes through the experience of the viewer, playing all the while with the roles of scale and the significance of the accompanying narrative.
Thesis Design - combining the investigated ideas and situations into a buildable experiential folly in the park. Plan and context of enlarged obscura allowing the capture and humanisation of the city at appropriate scale.
Central landing stage providing selected vistas and guiding the occupant to a position of the model viewer.
Framing of the city-scape challenging notions of scale, forcing us to question the notions of both near and far.
FRAMING AUTHENTICATION!
By matching up the city-scapes reflection with its replica etching, the occupant is forced into the position of model viewer.
Returning back through the path we are imediately aware of the lack of protection given to the occupant reflecting upon our position in relation to the machine.
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