Basic Principles & Simple Acts – On the Art of Building by Allan Wexler

I recently picked up a copy of Joseph Rykwert’s translation of On the Art of Building in Ten Books by Leon Battista Alberti. I had only got a few pages in when I stumbled in to this series by Allan Wexler which was inspired by his time reading the book. He wanted to create imagery that would bring us back to first things, basic principles and simple acts.

Allan Wexler is not a new name to me, but I’ve yet to really highlight his portfolio here on the website. Working in the fields of architecture, design and fine art for forty five years, Allan looks to explore human activity and the built environment. Using groupings of work to convey his message, he makes buildings, furniture, vessels and utensils as backdrops and props for everyday, ordinary human activity. He believes that by dissolving the boundaries between the fine arts and applied arts, such as furniture design, architecture and sculpture, new ideas and innovation flourishes.

This series, titled after the book itself “On the Art of Building”, is an exploration in how we define space and relate to others in confined spaces. He wanted to break down the complex nature of structure and reduce them to essential elements in order for us to understand the commonplace. Overall I think this a nice series so I’ve placed some of my favourite images here. If you have time I would also recommend viewing his newer series titled Breaking Ground which follows a similar theme but is geared more towards landscape. Enjoy.

allanwexlerstudio.com

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