Shallow Cavity: Views Into the Vessel
The program of a porcelain recycling facility engages in the process of reuse within the ceramic industry, investigating and reimagining the impact of post-consumer content within the natural cycle of growth and decay. The framework of production contends with the idea of material purity, establishing a series
of outputs from substrates seen as undesirable like discarded toilets and sinks, extending their shelf-life through reformation and allowing access to a variety of potential uses. The core objective of the factory is to act as a channel between the public and the specific processes of reclamation in its various stages pushing against the finality of perceived obsolescence.
Located in the Valley neighborhood in Providence, RI, the chosen site is in close proximity to factories, whether new or abandoned, that have been key elements of the city’s industrial history. The proposed ceramic recycling factory hopes to cultivate a relationship with the existing Steel Yard, promoting and revitalizing a culture of craft and creation, as well as introducing a potential cyclical reuse program into an area with large amounts of industrial refuse.
Casting Ceramics
Through the process of slip casting ceramic objects,these concepts were brought into physical realization,
allowing one to observe not just dents and dips upon the surface, but the negative space created as a secondary layer, bringing into question our preconceived notions of what constitutes a vessel.
Beyond spaces for industrial use, the factory includes workshops, exhibition halls and gathering spaces open
to public use, promoting consistent community engagement. Shifting scales and considering the body of the factory as a vessel, strategically distributed points of visual access allow the different programmatic elements to bleed into each other, creating a fluid pipeline between reuse, production and education.
The construction of a model at 1/2” scale was a necessary next step following the slip casting of ceramic vessels. Stemming from an interest in the illusion of depth, an inquiry into perceived shallowness is embarked upon through the manipulation of exposed surfaces and ground. The vessel begins as a duplicitous object, its true limit obscured through containment. Within the largely subterranean factory, subtle moments of reveal allow for glances into the hidden cavities, generating further intrigue in the unseen.
