My Quilting Shop

Architectural Interpretation of a Quilt Assignment 1 ARCH245

Demetrios Papathanasiou
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Second Year Architecture
08. 09. 26
ARCH 245

01 The Quilts of Gees Bend

Threshold - the place or point of beginning, the outset.
as defined by The American Heritage Dictionary

History:

Pop art of the 1960s derived from European cubism and surrealism. American quilt making was rooted from African Americans in rural Wilcox County, located in the heart of Southern Alabama. The small community of Gees Bend continued a tradition of quilting that dates back to African enslavement. The quilts expressed visual idioms from African patterns that were imported from Africa. The art was categorized as visionary or folk art. It consisted of rhythms and patterns.

Mission Statement: To analyze a Gees Bend quilt and interpret it into an architectural language.

America Irby (Artist)

About the Artists Work:

In the early 1970s, quilter America Irby created a visual tour de force in the utilization of colorfully patterned dashiki material. This Afro-centric fabric, quite popular in the larger black community at the time, made its way into the Gees Bend community. Irby took this new cloth and stunningly transformed it, creating vibrant juxtapositions between these fragments of black pride and pure color.

Design Synthesis:

The idea for this design was derived from my interpretation of the quilt. In analyzing the Gees bend culture I based my design on my analysis of the quilt. I took various inspirations from forms of architecture that I have seen. In the beginning my analysis led me to understanding this quilt in an urban context. After refining my analysis I concluded that the main Hierarchy was the most prominent forms in the quilt. Furthering my advancement I took the figures and determined that they diffuse in a radial form that circumambulates in a counter-clockwise direction. Therefore, creating a most interesting juxtaposition. It is important to add structure to my schema and therefore through further analysis I had come up with a structural system that would present itself as solid, but in truth have a makeup of filigree type construction. The method was achieved by adding vertical support elements to support the individual pods. To enforce lateral stability objects would jaunt out from a boundary and connect to the pods through a hinge type method. Thus securing the structure from devastating forces.

Duration : 0:7:43

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