Aidan Welsh

THE BEGINNING

Initial concept book ideas began by brain storming with my initial chosen stimuli. I chose to explore an environmental concept with inspiration from Christo and Jean Claude’s 1997-1998 Wrapped trees. The Claude’s art work exhibited a relationship between their created wrapping and the trees. This relationship between a man made object and a natural piece of the world is the main inspiration for my work which followed through to the end product. The idea of exploring the varying different relationships marked the set up for the rest of my work.

LAYOUT

I began experimenting with varying layouts with a minimalist style. I created several layouts in Pages which were inspired by the websites of varying architects. I noticed that most architectural firm websites utilised a minimalist style which would be ideal to express my work.

Welsh + Major

Lacoste + Stevenson

Those Architects 

Roth Architects 

SJB

LAY OUT CONCEPTS

#1

#2

#3

Based off the layout of these websites, I was inspired to create a few potential layouts for my work. I chose to follow through with concept #2 because of the way it utilised invisible lines  to create order amounts the page. Because of this I would be able to structure varying sized images using the same rule and have it adhere to the same style. I also believed it to be the most visually appealing concept.

COLLAGES + TEXT IMAGES

Through in class activities, I developed collages and text images, representing ideas surrounding the concept of the relationships between the human environment and the natural. However, through these exercises it became apparently clear that my concept book would be photography focused. The collages and text images that I created did not represent what I was trying to convey. Knowing that the relationships between the human world and the natural environment were apparent all around me and clearly visible set that my concept book would be completely photography reliant.

Collage #1

Collage #2

STILL LIFE

MANIFESTO

One class activity that I found extremely useful was the manifesto. The manifest finalised my ideas for my concept book and set my intentions as clear and focused. My manifesto for my concept book reads as the following.

There is a battle that never stops and never tires. There is also an alliance shared between these same fighting sides. The natural and the synthesised worlds dominate and clash over our world. As our cities rise and expand, our natural environment shrinks. However, as the impacts of this war become ever so apparent, it is becoming clear to us that we can adapt and share this world. Our creations and designs do not have to serve the people and only the people, they can serve other life too; other animals and plants. Often when harmony between all forms of life is considered within a design, the work can become increasingly beautiful.

FINALISATION 

As my idea of what the core focus of my concept book was developed, my attention turned to how I should represent it. My first idea was to exhibit varying different types of relationships between plants and synthesised structures as if it was an informative piece. However there only seemed to be so many different forms of relationships I could explore. Discussing with my tutor however, the idea of a story began to develop in my mind. As I began collecting my photos for the concept book, I started to take photos as if it was a journey from the far side of nature with no trace of man made structures, then to extreme of the city where there seemed to be little green life to be found and then finally in conclusion, to the way in which synthesised structures and plants can thrive in unison.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My photographs explored the density of the natural environment with the density of the human environment. I explored and captured White Bay where I found masses of flat concrete with nearly no vegetation, Ballast Point where there was insensitive plant life mixed in with concrete walls and metal sculptures, Central Park where there was unitive design between plants and structures, Sydney harbour where design had to consider practicality of the natural environment in order to function and my home where I captured subtle incorporation of plant life within the domestic space. There were also photographs from varying holidays of the past which I used to capture the extremes of each side, natural and human. The tea country of Sri Lanka, The mountain lakes of New Zealand and the sprawling city of Sao Paulo are all included.

FINALE

I paired each of the photographs with a some brief words to describe the journey from each extreme. Placing each of the images and text boxes in accordance with my chosen layout, the concept book was complete.

REFRENCES

Welsh + Major Architects. (2021) Home. Welshmajor. https://welshmajor.com/

Lacoste + Stevenson. (2021) Art, Architecture and Urban Design. L - S. https://l-s.com.au/

Those Architects. (2021) Those Architects. Those. https://thosearchitects.com.au/

SJB. (2021) SJB. SJB. https://www.sjb.com.au/

Roth Architects. (2021) Roth Architects. Roth. https://www.roth.com.au/