Concept statement
The proposed project seeks to react to the assemblage nature of the building in Diepeveen. In this sense, the new structure becomes an installation exploring the tension between the existing - dominated by inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies, and the usable spaces. The project references Rachel Whiteread’s work as an indicative approach to negative space and the memory of existing places. At the same time, importing from Gordon Matta Clark’s work with found structures, the installation becomes an artefact that sheds its layers systemically to reveal its contents.
In the initial stages, the existing building was (de)coded as a palimpsestical structure by reinterpreting Whiteread’s work - which in itself becomes a coding of everyday objects. This approach to codification meant that not only is there a clear methodology backing the salon’s design but also the new structure itself becomes only one of its many possible iterations.
The design marks a clear differentiation between the outside and inside conditions by employing a dual volumetry of visibly different materializations. The tension between the two volumetrics generates a variety of residual spaces that may be appropriated and inhabited accordingly. With their almost contradictory boundaries, the nature of these residual spaces emphasizes the nature of the original warehouse in its found state, rather than trying to sanitize and tame the industrial structure. As such, the nature of the shed is underlined and remains constant.
Internally, the main pavilion provides three rooms, separated by curtain partitions. In this case, the design allows for the expansion or contraction of the salon according to usage. Given the necessity for visibly tectonic external skin, the latter is constructed in recycled plastic with visual and tactile similarity to marble. Given the nature of the construction elements, most building materials can either be sourced locally or provided by the local community.