Wednesday 16 March 2011

what is a folie?






Paris de la Villette. Bernard Tschumi. 1997.
Bure, G. 2008. Paris / La Villette. In. Bernard Tschumi. ed. G. Bure, 47-73. Birkhauser: Basel

Simplicity of assembly, sophisted configuration, animation, space occupying, movement generating and amplification of action are, according to Bernard Tschumi the perfect checklist for the architectural component labelled a 'folie'. It is an elusive term for a structure or form designed as a space activator. Yet this definition is still too detailed. Tschumi states that he sees this concept as a multi-functional yet non-functional 'thing', occassionally colliding with, or responding to other facilities. As contradicting as this sounds, to the mind of an architect these phrases actually form the beginning of a possible design brief.

The above images show Tschumis process behind the creation of his folies. From his initial sketches through to the completed form, one can see how the project developed. I will be using the rough but poetic drawing style portrayed here in the development of my own folie. Time to design.

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