Taberna Ancipitas Formae
Garden Follies & Architecture
Garden follies are traditionally places of pleasure and escape, existing as well to complete a vista, provide a view, and tantalize the mind, body, and spirit. The conventional rules and rites of architecture need not apply.
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Client: Folly
Location: Natchez, Mississippi
Year: 1983
Status: Unbuilt
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El-Dahdah, Fares. "The Folly of S/M, recto verso." Assemblage , no. 18, August 1992: pp. 7-19.
Machado, Rodolfo. "Fictions on Fictions Plus a Postscript." VIA 8: Architecture and Literature, Journal of the Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, #8, pp. 76-87. 1986.
Archer, B. J. and Anthony Vidler. “Follies - Architecture for the Late Twentieth Century Landscape.” Exhibition Catalog. 1983.
Two Types of Speculation
This folly, designed for an international exhibition provokes two types of speculation. One is a metaphor: the folly can be understood as a temporary house, as an oracular hut where truths are half revealed, or as a retreat where deities might dwell and give to their desires. Another type of speculation is about "construction as art": the form is two perfect cubes, with air in one, water in the other. They are engaged in an unresolved tug of war, achieving neither unity or separation. Duality is a theme throughout: Has it one eye or two? Is it a face or a mask? This ambiguity of interpretation coexists with clarity of form.
Elements of Design
The fantasy is rendered in consummate detail - material, function, and image are realistically developed. Simply, it is a pool house and a bathing pool, set in a garden. The pool house has a small kitchen and bath with two stretched canvas beds for sunbathing above. Inside are a fireplace and mirror, a cooling fountain, and a picture window that frames a view of the garden. There are also a bench, a table with chairs, and sconce lights with dimmers. By the pool, a tall chair overlooks the water where a pair of tile benches are provided for reading and chatting. There are also small spaces for concealing pool filters and pumps, and for storing garden furniture. A classical statue, around which the water rises and falls, stands in the pool as a sensuous reminder of the pleasures of the bath.