Janae van Panahon
We had a chat to Janae van Panahon about her work! Keep reading for more details.
Hey Janae! Let’s start off with how you approach your design process.
I usually start with research to understand the essence of a site. Then I formulate a theory and a concept that will drive the design moving forward. My conceptual process involves a lot of narrative storytelling through image-making and abstract representations. From there, I produce spatial visualisations and sections focusing on progressive experiences /journeys through spaces. Overall, my design process tends to depart from the conventional architectural process because I am interested in revealing the emotional relationship between spaces and people. It is centred around the idea of experiential architecture and spatial performativity - to communicate the intangible and use architecture to tell a story.
What has been your favourite brief so far?
‘Rebirth of the Natural World: Performative Void and Darkness’ for Advanced Design 2 with Dorita Hannah. For this project, I’ve addressed the increasing urbanisation of Tāmaki Makaurau and how the layers of built fabric have led to the suffocation of the natural world. This is seen in the expansion of a colonial city that continues to disregard the cultural spirituality of Māori in relation to landscapes and seascapes. This project aims to rebirth the natural world by tracing whakapapa from the beginning of time through Te Kore (the great void) and Te Pō (the night). It offers people of the city a progressive journey into the whenua (land or placenta) through a series of liminal spaces leading to performative dark realms. By inhabiting darkness and nothingness, we exist in the realms of reality and imagination: the physical and the intangible.
Your media work is impressive! What is your typical process, and how do you determine what media works best?
I work with digital media; throughout my Bachelors, I worked with visualisations using Photoshop, Rhino 3D and Vray rendering. I found these successful because they enabled me to bring my spatial imaginaries to life to their full potential. As I entered my Masters, I was introduced to moving images and video production from the paper I did with Dorita. This has heavily influenced my work over the past year and is something I’ve continued with in my thesis year. I’ve found this specific media to work best because it allows my work to speak for itself through sounds and playing around with the pulsations of imagery to evoke certain emotions. Adding another layer of animation to the drawings presents a more effective visualisation of how these spaces are used and activated - something that cannot be seen easily in conventional drawings.
Do you have any specific precedents or inspirations that you look to?
Not necessarily. I feel like architectural precedents are utilised later in my design process. I’ve found that I only look into these when developing/finalising my design and figuring out the technical details and construction. Although for my ongoing thesis project, I’ve drawn inspiration from artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Es Devlin, Bob Jahnke, and Bill Viola, to name a few. By exploring the embodiment of experiential existence through the fusion of art and architecture, I’ve started doing active design research through a series of installations. To fully understand the aim of my work, an experience through a spatial intermedial installation is essential and is designed to invite
engagement with the body of work.
Tēnā koe Janae for sharing your wonderful mahi!
