ABSTRACT
In the category of furniture can also be included fittings, fixtures, and other parts of buildings which are touched or are not required structurally so much as operationally. Over the series of projects represented here, we have become increasingly conscious of the role of such furniture in relation to the architecture, to the urban environment, and to the way in which spaces are occupied and inhabited. (In certain cases, it could be argued that the architecture has itself become furniture, or acts like furniture in relation to its environment.)
The first question is how to think about the making (or fixing) of such pieces in relation to thoughts on the making of the primary spatial enclosure. In the Somers House this issue came into focus, as the fittings required for domestic life were one of the key di²erences between occupying this structure as a dwelling and occupying it as an agricultural building or shed. In a house more furniture is required. The fittings came into two categories: o²-the-shelf proprietary items, and purpose-made items. We treated each type of fitting as clearly distinct from the primary enclosure though essential to the composition as a whole. The e²ect is that items such as the outdoor shower, light fittings, or custom-made hanging rails are deliberately ‘placed on’, rather than integrated
into, or concealed within, the building. That is, their role as ‘fixtures’ is explicitly maintained. There is an implication that these items could simply be removed, pulled o², and the building could revert back to another type of use. This e²ect heightens an understanding of the current occupation as provisional or contingent, and the non-seamless, non-integrated quality in relation to the architecture points to these furnishings as moments of customisation.
