Horror Vacui

2013

Close, Closer, 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Lisbon, Portugal. Curated by Beatrice Galilee, José Esparza, Mariana Pestana, and Liam Young.

Site-specific Installation

Horror Vacui is a site-specific installation for the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale that considers the narrative function of the architectural surface. The piece re-constructs the cultural history of the Portuguese azulejo—blue and white tiles used to clad the exteriors of buildings as a form of collective storytelling—using the tools and aesthetics of social media and crowd-sourcing platforms. Through a custom production chain that involved Kickstarter, Autodesk, and a family-owned ceramic tile manufacturer, the project revolved around the production of over 2,000 unique tiles over a two-month period to re-clad the façade of a residential building in the center of Lisbon. Individually, each tile displays a photograph submitted to an interactive website that calibrated its color and position on the wall. Collectively, the images aggregate to create a ghosted replica of the façade behind.

Collaborators: Jaffer Kolb, Phoebe Springstubb, Patrick Tierney

Fabrication: Pedrita Studio

Photography: Francisco Nogueira