PORTFOLIO
1A: POETIC ASSEMBLAGE:
< CHOREOGRAPHY + ENVELOPE >
A Bodily-Conscious, Affective, Expressive and Experimental Flagship Construct for a Pas de Deux
Project 1A is a group project that combines bodily awareness, affective experience, and experimental design to introduce a poetic design process inspired by contemporary dance rooted in native culture. This approach bridges choreography and architecture, fostering dialogue around form, space, process, and materiality. Through choreographic exploration, students document body movements and observe the progression of material construction, echoing choreographer Sasha Amaya’s reflection: "Nothing is happening, and then everything is happening, and then suddenly, we are living with, or even in, this new structure."
Fica no Singelo by Clara Andermatt was assigned to us as an in-depth study of Portuguese traditional music and dance, exploring their origins, contexts, social interactions, and deep-rooted cultural practices. In this project, we translate the dance movement into Choreographic Ethnography.
Choreographic Ethnography
Final board and model
Reflection
Translating dance movements into a 3D spatial form for our first project was no easy task. It was my first time stepping outside the typical realm of architecture, moving away from traditional concepts of buildings or structures. However, I am incredibly grateful to our tutors, Ms. Dee and Ms. Sharon, whose guidance made the process much smoother.
Through this project, I strengthened my teamwork and communication skills, learning a great deal from my teammates. We explored new techniques in model-making, discovered fresh design perspectives, and embraced different ways of thinking. We worked with foam board and used a soldering iron to create an eroded stone-like texture, which was an intriguing experience.
Although we struggled at the beginning, this journey unfolded like a dance itself, pushing us to explore movement in ways we hadn't before, transforming fluid gestures into solid, three-dimensional architectural forms. As we shaped space, we implicitly uncovered the rich history of Portuguese dance, letting the past whisper through our design, connecting the body, culture, and architecture in an expressive harmony.
This project taught me to look beyond the surface and interpret cultural attire in a way that adds depth and meaning. It was a truly enlightening experience, as I began to grasp the essence of creating something that transcends the physical, allowing it to carry the weight of cultural and emotional significance.