Wilkinson, Daniel James;
(2021)
The Sculptor-Architect: drawings, models and bozzetti after Michelangelo.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
This practice-led research brings sculptural modelling techniques together with the sculpting of architectural drawings. Taking a singular reference to a lost architectural treatise by Michelangelo as its prompt, which was last seen in Borromini’s 17th century workshop, the thesis presents Renaissance sculpture as offering an alternate disciplinary footing to the norms that developed around the 15th century architect Alberti, to which the development of contemporary practice can be attributed. The importance of clay as a medium to produce preparatory models – referred to as ‘bozzetti’ in Michelangelo’s design process – is explored in a revision of my practice. Through a process that moves towards drawing by way of this adoption of clay, which informs an experimental approach to polychromatic ceramics and virtual reality modelling techniques along the way, a different kind of practitioner to Alberti’s version of the drawing-architect is arrived at: the sculptor-architect. This shift results in a contemporary design methodology with a twofold significance for the body: first, its corporeal, sensorimotor engagement with the design process; and second, its use of figuration. This draws attention to the body’s absence from current architectural concerns, while also retrodicting the importance of Michelangelo via my own arrival within the tradition. The research concludes with a series of speculative staircases for Borromini’s cloister at Rome’s San Carlo. By permitting intimate, visceral reactions to play a substantial role in the designing of these, this alternative approach emphasises the contingent, physical presence of the designer. The personal and expressive qualities of these designs show how the authorial quirks facilitated by Michelangelo’s techniques can offer much more than a historical appreciation.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The Sculptor-Architect: drawings, models and bozzetti after Michelangelo |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10136885 |
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