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hello! I’m a visual and spatial designer.
Riv(3)rside Pavillions
What’s the connection between architecture and scenic design?

Foundations Studio - Undergrad Spring 2019  - Instructors - Jozef Petrak and Jennifer Donnelly
Site - Osage Nation Land, or along Youghiogheny River, PA
Program - Public pavilion and private pavillion
Process -  Deconstruction

an illustration of a set by Setsu Asakura - it's a wooden endless staircase, but as the set turns, you realize that it's an illusion and the set is flat
Scenic design is largely about illusion. It’s building an entirely new world onstage - a world so convincing that even when an actor exits the stage, the audience doesn’t think that they’re going backstage, but just continuing a stroll through this imagined world. Scenic designers have the ability to change the perspective of the audience - they might be peering through a window or watching from behind a curtain. They can also distort reality with optional illusions, designing infinite staircases or spaces that extend upwards forever. Setsu Asakura (my favorite scenic designer!) is one example of a designer that uses these elements to drive her work.

This site is designed around the idea of illusion. Anyone that enters this site expects to see the Youghiogheny River. Instead, they’re first greeted with two different framed views of water features, serving as “river” stand-ins and later are rewarded with the view of the actual river.

a photo of a wooden model, that from the top view, looks like a dramatic puzzle. two open structures with a pathway that connects them, and a dock hanging over water, are all visible a photo of a wooden model from the perspective of someone standing by the entrance - one structure is hidden by trees, while the other taller structure is off in the distance a photo of a wooden model, that from the top view, looks like a dramatic puzzle. a zoom in on a dock looks like abstracted steps a photo of a wooden model, that from the top view, looks like a dramatic puzzle. the shapes cast really dramatic shadows on the landscape a photo of a wooden model, that from the top view, looks like a dramatic puzzle.

Running on Cargo