Anya Sirota + AKOAKI, a design studio based in Michigan, USA,
has installed two monumental stars in a defunct tannery in Amilly, France. The structures, built in situ, span over
thirty feet point to point and deploy the logics of American vernacular stud
construction in order to deliver an iconographic pow. As floating signifiers,
they encourage visitors to take a fresh look at the spatial potentials of an industrial
site in the process of transformation and to imagine a more playful, dynamic
and collective future.
The project, titled Pop It Up, comes at a critical
moment for the tannery complex. Come fall 2013, the site will be converted into
a cultural art center. In its current state of coming-undone-ness, however,
with its bared concrete structure and second-story wood flooring and windows
removed, the surviving architecture offers exceptional opportunities for
experimentation and interim engagement.
One seven pointed star hovers dexterously above the
exhibition space clipped to the existing concrete structure. The second star steps
out between columns on the ground floor, and balances precariously over the
tannery tanks. The two mischievous protagonists become three dimensional
supergraphics and perform in dialogue with the idiosyncrasies of the industrial
building as well as the landscape beyond.
The forms which can be viewed from above, below and at eye
level engage multiple and overlapping vantage points, suggesting that
challenging geometries can be arrived at through simple, approachable
techniques independent of costly contemporary fabrication facilities. All
elements in the project were produced and assembled on site using tools germane
to conventional construction: a mill saw, a table saw, a pneumatic stapler and
a few screw guns.
The construction process, free and open to the public,
spanned two weeks and was performed in collaboration with students from
the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture + Urban. All
construction scraps were reused to furnish a viewing platform and terrace.
The project, commissioned by the city of Amilly and curated
by Christophe Ponceau, was made possible through support from the City of
Amilly, the Region Centre and Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning. Pop It Up is on exhibit at the Tanneries
through September 29, 2013, and features work by artist Marie Combes.
principles: Anya
Sirota, Jean Louis Farges
team: James Chesnut, Allen Gillers, Christopher Reznich,
Missy Ablin, Cathy Pyenson, Erika Lindsay
curator: Christophe Ponceau
address: 234 rue des Ponts, Amilly, France, 45200
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