Prototile by Amanda Levete
Landmark Project
15 — 25 Sept 2007
Architecture / Landscape, Materials
Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd
London
SE1 8XX
Amanda Levete designed this installation, in the form of a curving wall of approximately 220 interlocking leaves. The structure was unveiled outside the Royal Festival Hall and was part of London Design Festival’s Size + Matter series.
As part of the 2007 Size + Matter brief, designers were asked to choose a material and ‘push it to its limits’ – Levete has used DuPont Corian for the thermoformed leaves. The tiles could then be connected in a variety of forms, exploring the boundaries of the material's potential. Levete stressed that Prototile is not an art piece but a structure with many possible functions, particularly shade and shelter. Due to the material's inherently translucent nature, Prototile produced ever-changing effects as the light and surroundings changed. Levete commented on her installation, “There was this idea of the repetition of the motif and creating a screen, but one without a boundary. It is perforated and is about the relationship of solid to void. It is quite a complex double-layered system and double curvature. So the idea is that you can reassemble it in any form. There are obviously limits to the height because of the structural properties, but it does show that with a single motif you can create very complex forms.” Supported by Philips and Corian.
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