Artwork on ‘Doors and Windows’

 This is an update on the piece and the road to completion is near.  I’d like to share the process of ideas generation, material studies, casting techniques and volume calculations.

In the pipeline and equally important, thoughts on the artwork write-up and the title are being consolidated.  Yes, it deserves a better name than ‘Doors and Windows’, I guess. 

12 Fun Facts on Unité d’Habitation, Marseille, France

 

1. ‘I must be free of all building regulations in force.’  The architect – Le Corbusier accepted the project with this condition for the Minister of Reconstruction after WWII.

2. It was known by the locals in the 1950’s as The Loony Bin – La Maison du Fada. The title was further endorsed by the then president of the medical academy, himself a psychiatrist.

3. The Charter of Housing after the war in France required the residents of the Unité be taught on the ‘know-how of dwelling’ – savoir habiter.  We don’t practice this anymore with social housing, do we?

4. The architect compared the Marseille Block as ‘the wine-bin’ and the 337 apartment units as wine bottles.  These bottles in Corb’s terms ‘may contain Champagne, Beaune or just vin ordinaire, but the one we are talking about contains invariably a family.’  Very French – architecture and wine tasting.

5. Unité was designed to be the first block of housing experiment covering a plot of 3.5 hectares.  Multiple towers, separated among one another 300m apart in a park setting is what the other name ‘La Villa Radieuse’ – Green Town was originated.

6. The raw concrete look – béton brut was achieved with the use of sand and rock from Etole massif, the mountain range north of the city.  The architect wanted the surfaces to resemble the rugged terrains there.  Sure, they do.  One can also say that this might be a pioneering green architecture of modern era.

7. Most critics complain on the width and height (3.66x2.26m) of most residential units without mentioning a double height of 4.8m at the living rooms.  To be fair, one can hardly find social housing of this generous dimension even now!

8. A resident used to run a cinema of 40 seats exclusively for other residents.  There is no information on where this ‘cinema’ was located.  At present, live performances and other arts activities are carried out from time to time on the roof terrace and art gallery (once the gymnasium).

9. According to the residents, the sculptural ventilation shafts on the roof terrace occasionally produce humming sounds that visually echo with ferries travelling from Corsica and Algeria to the Marseilles harbour. 

10. The name of the restaurant at the Unité is Le Ventre de l’Architecte which pays homage to the film The Belly of the Architect by Peter Greenaway.  The location of this restaurant, on the internal street, is close to the centre of the housing block just as the belly button to the centre of a person.

11. When residents are asked what they like most of the building, the communal roof terrace sunset apéritif comes first, then the sunrise.  We should democratize all flat roofs now!

12. Private Delivery System: All apartments feature specially designed boxes on walls for residents to receive groceries from shops without opening their doors.  Residents with communal spirit use them to share magazines and foods among themselves.

This write-up follows my recent pilgrimage to the Unité and found that it really is a living monument slash apartment building.  The morning I went there was literally kicking with residents doing Pilates and riotous music on the roof terrace.

For more reading, there is an in-depth review of Le Corbusier on this blog:   https://artswise.blogspot.com/2015/11/

For my artworks: https://edwardtsui.ca

Latin American Photography - recap from AGO, Toronto

Beautiful Shot – used by AGO for the exhibition, by Rafael Goldchain, Itinerant Photographer’s Studio (Recuerdo), Coban, Guatemala, 1987.

A little belated to post a selection of Recuerdo – Latin American Photography from the AGO (May to October, 2025).  The show gave voices to the works of Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1902 - 2002), Graciela Iturbide (1942 - ) and Canadians like Larry Towell (1953 - ) and Michael Mitchell (1943 - 2020).

Much of the focus I took in the exhibition related to ancient and mythical architecture.  This had been the preoccupation of Frank Lloyd Wright, in particular, who sought with vigour a new architectural language in his career.  On this score, he earned a lot of admiration from me.  The same applies to those who strive to develop cultural identities of the Americas in other arts.

Of all the pictures, I am very fond of Mujer Angel, Sonoran Desert, Mexico, 1979 by Iturbide (the last picture here).  Not only does it embody ancient and contemporary vibes, I find it very moving that touches the very heart of my youthful years.

 

Doors and Windows

 

Watch this blog for the finished artwork.

Archaeological 'Discovery'

 

An archaeological 'work' is underway on 

Footprints | 51°30’28”N, 0°7’40”W. 

Revisit this site for progress and completion.

Cultural Expressions for CHANGE

 

Expedition Self (on show in the gallery)

2024

21.5x16x21cm/8.25x6.25x8.5in (HxWxD)

Paper collage, acrylic on cement cast from mold

Take a trip to discover oneself – this is how people used travelling to explore the world and, at the same time, to understand, re-establish or find themselves.  In truth, to know who we are is to reinforce our identities within the community.  Today, more people are exploring alternatives to sharpen these senses in pursuit of the same goal.  

This paper collage and painted sculpture draws inspiration from Teatro del Mondo* by Aldo Rossi (1931-97). Dramas were held in this floating theatre amid journeys on the open sea. The architect used the discourse of travelling and stage to signify life’s journeys for his passengers. Whilst examining the duality of realism and fantasy through this toy-like theatre, one may redefine anchors of one’s own existence in order to project afresh into society.

 Beyond Venice, showboats like this could be found across continents - from the rivers of the US to the waterways in Asia.  They formed the sources of imagination, dialogues and convergence.

 

*Teatro del Mondo (Theatre of the World) was created for the Venice Architecture Biennale in 1980.  This moving theatre was later transported to Dubrovnik for the International Theatre Festival in the same year.  Through the play of collage and setting, this artwork seeks to open up mediums much needed for confluence of ideas and communications.

Trajectory on the making of ...

 

Click on the above for the complete article by myself on thesecretdoor.ca.

Review from Vincent Moleveld of onlinegallery.art

 

For those who are interested in the above review of my artworks, please click on above.

Woodstock Art gallery, ON

 

Check out three exhibitions concurrently held in Woodstock Art Gallery, ON in July, 2025 and one with my most recent works - Many Lives of Load-bearing.  Click on the artwork to see more details.

Casa Luis Barragan

 

Tremendously sensuous, Casa Luis Barragan cannot be fully captured on camera though.  If there is ‘sexy’ architecture, surly this is among the best.  It is also one of the rare modern domestic buildings that are protected on the World Heritage list.