Sean Godsell
interview by MAURA MANTELLI
MM:
SG:
I was particularly interested in the choice of materials in your small architecture, what were the choices and the ideas that led you to realize it in this way?
Each architect was partnered with a local builder and in some instances local suppliers. Zintek (based in Venice) were involved in supporting the project and we were happy to use their cladding. The original design had galvanised steel for both the structure and cladding however we were happy to adapt Zintek's product. The interior of the tower is gold coloured anodised aluminium.
The chapel you have designed is open upwards and in correspondence with the people around you, what is the relationship you wanted to achieve with the context and above all with nature? Instead how did you relate to the theme of the divine?
Our idea was to replicate the verticality of the bell towers of Venice and the overall dimensions equate to a 40' (12.0m) shipping container tipped on its end. This was linked to our proposition that the chapel was prototypical and could be mass-produced and transportable - able to be re-used as the need demanded. The oculus and gold lining work together to draw visitors first to the altar and then to heaven as they look upwards.
The last question concerns a research we are doing with our newspaper. We are pursuing a search between architecture and happiness, for you what is the relationship between these? Do you have a project that represents happiness for you?
Building is a physical act. Architecture is a spiritual one. Architects use the medium of building to evoke emotional responses in those people who encounter the architecture.
Le corbusier famously summarised it this way , in Vers Une Architecture:
"You employ stone and wood and concrete and with these materials you build houses and palaces.
That is good.
Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, I am happy, and I say 'this is beautiful'. That is Architecture. Art enters in."
"I've always loved the bell towers of Venice - their daring engineering and bold verticality on the Venetian skyline".
Sean Godsell
"No - name" (2018)