Kati Blom, Craig Gray, John Kinsley, with Neil Taylor and Hugh Miller 26.9.2019 Images from Jay Hallsworth’s portfolio 2018
RITUALS, craft and the city 1. Summary In Rituals students design first a small scale non-insulated structure for a Blyth ritual in a site in Blyth harbour or city centre, choosing one of three sites in offer. This small scale intervention should be an adaptation or interpretation of Japanese tea ceremony, its process and its envelope, the house itself and the gardens surrounding it. After developing spatial themes and landscape / site strategies from this intervention (as a prototype or a test), students continue to design a larger ritual and craft based facility for contemporary challenges using either the previous sites, or moving into Blyth centre. The graduation program is close to the concept of Mediatheque or it could be educational centre promoting a Blyth tradition, like the activities based on Blyth Tall Ship Company. A Japanese joinery workshop is organised in October with Hugh Miller. Special care is used to analyse the site in relation to its privacy or concealed/publicity or exposed aspects, for the tea room tradition integrates the site intimately and surprisingly to the building. The surrounding land- or cityscape heightens the anticipation and prepares for the unknown, in form of an excluded structure. Tectonic focus is in the use of natural light and timber constructions as means to express conceptual spatial ideas.
2. Studio Description The tea room PRIMER design requires quick research on the different aspects of the space distribution in tea rooms, done in the first week. Additionally specific use of ceramics, glass, flowers, metal items, timber, reed, fabrics, food, tiles, stone etc. could be demonstrated. These may be analysed using sensory tools (sight, hearing, tasting, moving, smelling and touching) in form of models and produced objects to be touched, tasted or smelled. If wanted, a social analysis of the rituals, e.g. temporary, habitual, indicative, and performative intangible aspects can be done, using either text, visualisations or film. This enhances the individually designed ritualistic uninsulated space located in Blyth, being it tearooms, or other activity structures (coffee shop, ferry waiting structure in the harbour etc.) Primer phase is finalised by design of a tea room /ritual construction at least with one section. It is possible as well to produce a section of a tearoom for primer show, where a tea ceremony can be performed, and the Japanese conceptual joinery models can be shown.