My thesis is based off the book, a Month in Siena by Hisham Matar who is also the protagonist in the story. He is a historian who had a fascination for Sienese art the same year his father passed away.
I set out with the aim of trying to understand how space can be reinterpreted, similar to the way Hisham Matar views paintings as he describes, “a picture changes as you look at it and changes in ways that are unexpected.” This quote encouraged me to explore how one views a city and how it may change when you look at it again through a different lens for example, through the use of scale. More importantly, my thesis takes a look at how the perception of scale can make a room be perceived as a city and how a city can be viewed as a room.
My proposal is a response to the book and the context, it is an art complex that also acts as a threshold into the historical site inspired by the protagonist being deposited on the periphery of the city by bus. My proposal is an extension of the existing marketplace on the ground floor, there is an exhibition space on the first, workshop spaces on the second floor, and accommodation on the third floor.
The Art House is heavily influenced by the likes of Palladio’s Basilica Palladiana, as well as Gilles Perraudin’s work with stone. Most of the materials used come from nearby towns and quarries that are no more than two hours away from the site.