Archival Art in Residential Architecture

Whether it be strictly called detournement or archival art, the practice of producing art from another art or “ready-mades” has been practiced for a long time and only put in context/study in modern times.

In architecture, as touched upon in the past written responses, we have acknowledged pulling inspiration from an existing architecture or archive as part of current practice. We established that contemporary works are responses and programmings of new and old suited to the purpose of the present. Here we use traditional forms from superficial decorative treatments like mouldings to grand memories of the past like entryways and dens of villas in various times and places; and we recreate them suited for “the now.” Though not as a whole (a replica) but in parts at the very least. Say the entryway and windows reminds you of the illustrious Spelling Mansion in California, while the interior is a French inspiration resulting from their existing furniture.

In my own practice, nothing comes to mind closer to archival art than the process of designing a family home. As I always emphasize, designing a house is very different from designing model units or corporate projects. It is very personal because real people will live there. The process of knowing a family, from their favorite color to the treasured furniture that they have already invested in, is part of this getting to know the client.

In one real project, the Rocillos of Tagaytay had their house renovated in 2016. Their house was part of the hodge-podge Mediterranean craze that sprouted in the last decades dominated by some French windows, crown mouldings, and ornate doors. They have also invested in bulky French sofas and amassed an array of ceramic vases that they want to keep. From that point on, I knew I had to keep these items that they cared so much for, perhaps update it and unify the style.

To extend the house and keep the look unified and contemporary, I went for the California style that carries the same French forms but in crisp ivory white finish and simpler, less ornate trims, but still the same grandeur of size. I also refinished their woods to a darker walnut to hide overly ornate pieces and against a canvas of off-whites create an almost black and white coloration, making for great drama and a neutral palette. Reusing the main door and even the moulding details on the post, we embraced a single color for the whole exterior where doors, windows, light fixtures, and planters are only black. No vases were added, they are all existing items from the family. The foyer console table is actually a re-creation of the original collection of Rococo-inspired furniture.

Majority of all their furnishings were reused, reupholstered or refinished (as a sort of repair from the scratches). We added a geometric lattice pattern reminiscent of traditional gardens. The choice to retain and reuse was also motivated by personal preference of the Rocillos and their budget. My goal was to make sure that the house looks consistent with one style language or color/finish, to have a professional touch, while keeping true to the family’s personality.

This need to express personality spoke to me in one of my recent projects, our ancestral house. The house was from a traditional bahay na bato of the middle class from the matriarch, Lola Imang, with bamboo floors, wood posts, and stone walls on the ground. The Sarinas were evicted from their land in the 1960s due to family conflicts and poverty and the house was moved to its final location with all bamboo floors intact. The ground floor was recreated in its new location with now earth flooring. In a spite, they chipped away the remaining ground slab where their house once stood. In 2020, we embarked on demolishing and building a new house, but due to budget concerns, the Sarinas sisters (the current owners) could only accommodate retrofitting the structure like replacement of flooring and updating the finishes of the house.

This renovation led to a tremendous amount of scraps, as we started ripping off the old bamboo floors and fabricating a new stairway. We had so much raw materials from the old house that we knew we wanted to use them as souvenirs of the past. The following is a brief photo documentation of this archival of selected recoveries and re-creations.

The old bamboo floors from my great grandmother’s ancestral house second flooring were sorted, sanded, and bundled ready for cutting into uniform lengths; then new marine plywood frames were used to form the shape of the stools. The very linear yet organic body was complemented using Fabricut coral pattern as a cushioned top.

One of the re-creation was this old mirror that used to be in one of the bedrooms. A frame was added using the old stair handrail, cut in half and laid end to end and set around the perimeter of the antique mirror. This now stands by the entryway across the main door. The stair posts were repurposed as lamp stands that balance themselves across the new sofa. The 100-year old stools now stand proudly by the side (we actually have one in my home as a memento), and a complementing table was added (top is marble from remnant granite work in the kitchen). The TV wall needed a pattern and so we went for circles as sort of homage to the retro period of the 1960s that the house was moved in place. In the distance, the dining table could be observed.

The archival work in architecture, particularly in residential design, begs the designer and homeowners themselves to look inwards for personal/family identity. As one design guru says, "Your home should be a reflection of how you want to live right now, and for the next phase of your life." (Martha Stewart, 2013).

Although archival art has also been defined as recollection as much as reproduction, the ripped version of it is the actual use of the objects found. And so there is an effort to really make use of the existing things, and not just on a financial standpoint but of an impulse to preserve and relive the history of who we are locked in these objects of mnemonic devices, as Freud describes it. When we see them, we are not only reminded of historic information, but we recreate and use them for our own purposes, e.g. the bamboo floors as stools, or the vases that became décors.

I would like to think this is how we live as well. We live like archival artists because we treasure objects more than their functional purposes and beyond what they were originally intended. This attachment and impulse for the recovered items, as T. Dean explored in her altered re-presentation of objects, leads to transformation of belated and even failed/outdated ideas to new possibilities or new beginnings.

References

Blazwick, Iwona. “Documents of Contemporary Art.” The Archive. Whitechapel and The MIT Press, 2006.

Debord, Guy-Ernest. “Methods of Detournement.”

Foster, Hal. “An Archival Impulse.” The MIT Press, October, Vol. 110 (Autumn, 2004), pp. 3-22. www.jstor.org/stable/3397555. Accessed September 14, 2011.

Oxford University Press. “Détournement.“ 2020, www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095713704?fbclid=IwAR2m31KUI0zEj8EIy4QHYdfD_JT8X5TYUU20Pk9NQ8mq4VdVXvyGUHm2BHs. Retrieved 08 December 2020.

Merewether, Charles. “Introduction//Art and the Archive.” The Archive. Whitechapel and The MIT Press, 2006. pp. 10-17.

Spieker, Sven. “The Big Archive: Art From Bureaucracy.” The MIT Press, March 3, 2017.

Steward, Martha, “Living the Good Long Life.” Martha Stewart Living, 21 May 2013.

Zaatari, Akram. “Photographic Document/Excavation as Art//2006.” The Archive, Retracings. Whitechapel and The MIT Press, 2006. pp. 181-184.

All photos from JRSJ office archive.

This essay was originally written for Contemporary Issues on Art and Design for Philippine Women's University - School of Fine Arts and Design.