October 25th Body and Space and Fashion.

Today we explored how fashion and style can manifest themselves into larger social themes such as modernity, identity, gender and architecture. We also looked into the idea of wearable concepts. To begin we looked at Gottfried Semper, who was a German architect and theorist who published ‘The Four Elements of Architecture’ in 1851 where he explained the origins of architecture through anthropology. He described how essential man's early structures were to establishing and creating social, communal and domestic spaces. “Fashion has not always been so distinct from architecture. In the long journey of human existence, clothing first provided the body with wearable shelter, with architecture manifesting as a framework to support the animal hides and panels of fabric that became roofs and walls" (Quinn, 2003)

Example or early human shelters

We then continued to explore how design movements can mutually impact each other. Take for example the steel dome of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace Pavilion in 1851, it bears a striking resemblance to the structure of the crinoline frame which was an extremely popular fashion trend at the time.

Plan of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace Pavilion & Drawing of Crinoline Frame.

In response to this insightful presentation I read, a passage from Fashion Installation: Body, Space, and Performance where they quote the words of Walter Benjamin. “An environment is essentially different from an object given to consciousness, it cannot be simply identified, broken into parts, isolated, and studied. The manifestation of the incorporation of an environment in consciousness would make certain images stand for or gather the amorphous surroundings. These are the dream images.” I find this quote particularly interesting as it reminds me of the themes from the past two presentations. The idea that we must open our minds to fully understand an environment and that structures in that space should be viewed as a system in order to understand our relationship with them. He then links this idea to "Fashion," Benjamin remarks, "like architecture, inheres in the darkness of the lived moment, belongs to the dream consciousness of the collective.” (Geczy & Karaminas, 2019 p. 15) This shows how fashion and architecture can design each other and share common concepts, themes and ideas. 

Book I read to further understand Fashion in relation to body and space.

References:

Quinn, B. (2003). Fashion of architecture, Berg, Oxford.

Adam Geczy & Vicki Karaminas (2019). Fashion installation: Body, space and performance, Bloomsbury Visual Arts