Art Studios: How artistic processes inform architectural design
- 6 days ago
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Updated: 18 hours ago
Exhibition by Grigori Fateyev and Art Forms Architecture
May 16th - August 20th
Opening Reception May 23rd, 3-5pm
In his 1996 study of the phenomenology of architectural space, Finnish architect and theorist Juhani Pallasmaa writes, "Architecture is our primary instrument in relating us with space and time, and giving these dimensions a human measure. It domesticates limitless space and endless time to be tolerated, inhabited and understood by humankind."
In artistic residency spaces as in live/work studios purpose-built for artists, the sequencing of undifferentiated time and space becomes especially acute, giving structure to places the body occupies both day and night. For Grigori Fateyev of Art Forms Architecture, the tailoring of the environment to the lifeways of artists involves an extended conversation about desires, habits, work methods, and aspirations for happiness and well-being. He immerses himself in the physical context, studies the topography of the natural environment, and in the case of historic landmarks and modifications to existing structures, researches the site's history, its prior uses, and the design thinking of the original architect. Throughout the process, Fateyev gives ideas form through sketches, models, construction drawings, and eventually, a built structure designed to sensitively intervene, introducing new functions and structures.
In the current exhibition at Chesterwood, The Design of Artists ' Studios by Grigori Fateyev, documents these conversations and ideas through the display of drawings, models, and photos of three built artists' studios by Fateyev as well as studies and drawings for a proposed expansion of the Chesterwood campus to accommodate three interdisciplinary residencies. Represented through sketches, watercolor paintings, architectural drawings, detailed illustrations, 3D renderings, models, and photographs, the exhibition displays the artifacts of projects at the intersection of Fateyev and his clients' imaginations.
The drawings are a medium to share ideas, morphing in response to feedback, as well as technical documents to meet code requirements and specify to builders how to realize projects. Here at Chesterwood's Woodshed Gallery, they offer the community a public a view of the process of commissioning, designing, and constructing purpose-built and renovated structures for artists to live and work.
As a set of projects, each one offers distinct characteristics in terms of its intended uses and building typology. They include Hudson Studios, a purpose-built studio and residence with living and working spaces for a painter-and-sculptor couple in Hudson, New York; the Art Shed, a private art gallery, artwork storage, and studio for a painter in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; and Levity Studio for Anton Ginzburg, a studio and residence in two overlapping volumes for a multidisciplinary artist in the Hudson Valley.
In his drawings, Fateyev's use of black-and-white ink, pencils, charcoal, colored markers, and watercolor, as well as elevations, floor plans, and renderings, provides insight into various stages of the design process and the possibilities of architectural drawings as a form of both communication and expression. Notably, Fateyev started his academic training in theater set design in St. Petersburg before gravitating toward art and eventually architecture at Cooper Union. His architectural education was rooted in both figure drawing and conceptual studies, where he fell under the influence of John Hejduk, whose use of drawings to express possibilities and share ideas became, in many cases, an end in itself.
At the threshold of his mid-career, Fateyev has already realized sensitively built structures that belong to a new generation of critical regionalist architects that employ detailed craftsmanship in construction. He takes the concerns of ecological construction seriously, carefully deploying materials, technologies for energy conservation, and siting for climate conditions in conjunction with design for the experience of the users. The photographs of his completed work capture the beauty and function of the eventual projects in texture, color, and detail, as well as in relation to their surroundings. As much as they're designed for the clients' programmatic needs and desires, the buildings resonate with their natural and vernacular context, combining a passion for the technics of architecture and the mechanics of buildings with an intuition for structuring and embodying the time and space of experience.
Stephen Zacks is an advocacy journalist and project organizer based in Mexico City. He is a contributor to Abitare, L 'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, Architect's Newspaper, Dwell, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Metropolis, and Oculus. His work has received support from ArtPlace, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation, MacDowell, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Warhol Foundation.
