COMPRESSION is currently exhibited at the former shipwharf De Oude Delft (Schiehaven 15) in Rotterdam.
The design of this folly plays into the dual nature of the Dutch landscape, on one hand dense and utilitarian, on the other hand artificially kept primitive and scenic. It invites visitors to an experience of compression, similar to the ‘act and be watched’-reality of the rural environment.
Simultaneously it takes the definition of a folly, an object with intentionally no practical function, and flips it around: while designing we explored the various uses a folly could have and related it to the unlikely uses of everyday objects in an urban context. Like a bridge balustrade, the folly is a seating arrangement; like a gate, the folly is a spatial transition; like a fence, the folly is a screen between spaces; like a radio tower, the folly is a beacon and orientation point. All of these uses could be integrated in a simple repeating structure of equisized wooden beams, distorted horizontally and vertically.
Designed for Folly Art Norg 2021, the design was previously on view along a 7 kilometer long ‘folly-route’. It was possible to visit the installation free of charge from August 1 till August 29 l, 2022. The route included 16 designs selected out of 104 submissions.
Projectteam:
Justin Agyin, Lennart Arpots, Yang Bai & Thom Cornelissen; with special support from Joris van den Berg, Jochem Groenland and Kenzo Joy Lam.
publication on Dagblad van het Noorden
photos by Yang Bai
