From the 20th century many sculptors became interested in how space is created, perceived and experienced, and as such, architecture became an important source of inspiration. The work by Victor Pasmore (1908-1998), Hubert Dalwood (1924-1976), and Do Ho Suh (born 1962) shown here, has been inspired by architecture in various ways. Pasmore was interested in the ideas of the Constructivists, a group of artists who from the 1930s found inspiration in the modern industrial world. Through this, Pasmore developed an interest in abstract, geometrical shapes and how they relate to each other. This fuelled his interest in sculptural form, as expressed in his relief constructions, and how this translates into the plastic form of buildings. Interestingly, in return, his architectural inspired artwork, had a profound influence on the development of modern architecture in the 1960s. The sculptor Hubert Dalwood was mainly fascinated by the way buildings relate to landscape. His visit to Sicily, where he saw the Doric Temple of Segesta, and to the vast planes of Illinois, US, with their large industrial grain silos, resulted in a series of sculptures which juxtapose the rigid form of industrial architecture with soft elements in the landscape, such as billowing clouds. More recently, the artist Do Ho Suh has interpreted his personal experience of space, by making life-sized three-dimensional reproductions in fabric of the various homes he has lived in around the world. His work conveys the experience of displacement when moving from place to place. Starting of as a painter, he studied both clothes- and pattern making, as well as architecture. This resulted in the creation of rooms in light, transparent fabric. The rooms can be folded up and are transportable: the memories of a place are carried in a kind of architectural 'prêt-a-porter' (ready to wear).

 

image: Do Ho Suh, detail of New York City Apartment (K6467)