Okay - Fedora it is. In a way, Calvino very clearly gives you your 3 viewpoints for your 3 paintings: we have the master shot of the gray stone metropolis, we then have the view of the great museum, as if perhaps we were standing on its steps, looking up, waiting to go in - and then you have that extraordinary interior, with all the model cities in all those glass globes.
A couple of observations I'd make: in terms of your conception of the city as a kind of New York place; yes, but in the text itself, Calvino gives some further clues; that the model cities have elephants and 'twisting minarets' suggest a certain ethnicity or geographical specificity - if these model cities are versions of the one that was actually built, it suggests that the city itself is located somewhere that might once have associated with 'elephants' and minarets - so not New York, USA, but rather somewhere more 'exotic': take a closer look at the term minaret and you'll see what I mean:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret
I think maybe your Fedora of tall skyscrapers etc. might be a hybrid place, with buildings that manage to be both 'modern' but also reference a specific culture. In some of your thumbnails, you appear to be looking at the Chrysler Building:
This is interesting - and I think a clue as to how you can take your 'modern' Fedora further without just drawing lots of generic grey blocks. The Chrysler is an example of 'art deco', an art style that was highly influenced by the motifs of Egypt - so here you have a blend of the 'modern' with a more ancient civilisation. Perhaps you need to think how the modern Fedora might reflect/retain some of the motifs, shapes and structures implied by Calvino's reference to 'Elephants and minarets' as being part of the city's design history?
By looking more closely - and thinking more creatively about these little details - I think you're going to find the design of the museum and its interior a little easier. Big city museums tend to be 'statement buildings' - so more grand, more classical, more imposing than originally buildings, so I'd expect the Fedoraean Museum to really reflect the city's past. In terms of that fantastical interior with all the globes - again, by looking at interiors we might associate with 'elephants and minarets', you may find that you very quickly identify a range of colours, surfaces and shapes you can use to design with.
The big challenge everyone faces with this project is to deal with the SCALE of these places; this is a city, not a huddle of buildings, and likewise the interior of the museum needs to feel vast and spacious: so more this:
In summary then - in order to ensure you're designing Fedora, I think you need to go back to the clues Calvino gives you and think about how your modern Fedora might be a blend of the modern and the ancient (as in Art Deco) and how the Museum might reflect the city's implied geography and culture (elepants and minarets) even more so. I also want you to think about scale and getting the very most out of the concept art opportunities for that museum interior - what an extraordinary place!
OGR 06/10/2016
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
Okay - Fedora it is. In a way, Calvino very clearly gives you your 3 viewpoints for your 3 paintings: we have the master shot of the gray stone metropolis, we then have the view of the great museum, as if perhaps we were standing on its steps, looking up, waiting to go in - and then you have that extraordinary interior, with all the model cities in all those glass globes.
A couple of observations I'd make: in terms of your conception of the city as a kind of New York place; yes, but in the text itself, Calvino gives some further clues; that the model cities have elephants and 'twisting minarets' suggest a certain ethnicity or geographical specificity - if these model cities are versions of the one that was actually built, it suggests that the city itself is located somewhere that might once have associated with 'elephants' and minarets - so not New York, USA, but rather somewhere more 'exotic': take a closer look at the term minaret and you'll see what I mean:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret
I think maybe your Fedora of tall skyscrapers etc. might be a hybrid place, with buildings that manage to be both 'modern' but also reference a specific culture. In some of your thumbnails, you appear to be looking at the Chrysler Building:
http://mstecker.com/images/nyccruise/chryb_IMG_3223b1.jpg
This is interesting - and I think a clue as to how you can take your 'modern' Fedora further without just drawing lots of generic grey blocks. The Chrysler is an example of 'art deco', an art style that was highly influenced by the motifs of Egypt - so here you have a blend of the 'modern' with a more ancient civilisation. Perhaps you need to think how the modern Fedora might reflect/retain some of the motifs, shapes and structures implied by Calvino's reference to 'Elephants and minarets' as being part of the city's design history?
By looking more closely - and thinking more creatively about these little details - I think you're going to find the design of the museum and its interior a little easier. Big city museums tend to be 'statement buildings' - so more grand, more classical, more imposing than originally buildings, so I'd expect the Fedoraean Museum to really reflect the city's past. In terms of that fantastical interior with all the globes - again, by looking at interiors we might associate with 'elephants and minarets', you may find that you very quickly identify a range of colours, surfaces and shapes you can use to design with.
The big challenge everyone faces with this project is to deal with the SCALE of these places; this is a city, not a huddle of buildings, and likewise the interior of the museum needs to feel vast and spacious: so more this:
https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/databank_galacticsenate_01_169_bf6ad9e8.jpeg?region=0%2C49%2C1560%2C780
and not this:
http://www.gielissen.com/cache/images/153/153-d61555cfc11ab08ba77512a19058260f.jpg
In summary then - in order to ensure you're designing Fedora, I think you need to go back to the clues Calvino gives you and think about how your modern Fedora might be a blend of the modern and the ancient (as in Art Deco) and how the Museum might reflect the city's implied geography and culture (elepants and minarets) even more so. I also want you to think about scale and getting the very most out of the concept art opportunities for that museum interior - what an extraordinary place!
Thank you for the help phil ill get right on it :)
DeleteOk Phil iv re-worded my statement and added some more ideas and influences to help explain my version of Fedora
Delete