When the Architecture + Design Museum of Los Angeles hosted its annual Celebrate Gala by featuring the theme of "Shelter," issues regarding the human animal were sure to emerge. After all, no matter how often humans collectively try to Other non-human animals, our shared need for such things as food, water, and shelter to survive continually tie us.
Certainly the majority of "shelters" represented at auction and exhibit were connected to humans who had succeeded already in finding stable and reliable shelter, and now possessed a desire to personalize or add greater comfort to that shelter.
Yet numerous pieces communicated on a deeper level, raising questions, when placed in direct conversation, about
* how humans' need for shelter remind us of our role as animals
* how and whether humans and animals work with or defy their environments in creating shelter
* what aesthetic and design elements can coincide with a shelter's function once humans have stabilized their need and become, in Lear's words, "accommodated"
Among the most striking combinations were two pieces of similar scale: "Urchin" and "Orb."
A tag simply labeled the piece "Urchin" left viewers an opportunity to play with open interpretation. The simple lines and industrial metallic materials emphasized to the three urchins as man-made. Interestingly enough, however, the human-produced urchins also served as a reminder that unlike man, urchins are creatures that possess their own natural defense and shelter. Never seeking additional ornament or increased security, the urchin's body quietly provides for itself in a way the human body cannot.
"Orb," meanwhile, though similar in size and shape to the individual urchins, served an entirely different critical function. Its designers from Gensler provided the following description of their piece:
"Shelter, in its most elemental form, simply provides protection. The architecture of protection can
range from elemental to ornate, suit individuals or the masses, lie below ground or soar in the sky. Tracing the formal evolution of these elements, one finds a sophisticated progression. ORB maps the architecturalevolution of shelter into a complex topography, encapsulating the vast notion of shelter into a singular object. "
A piece reminiscent of an Earth globe, "Orb" possesses irregular spines across its rounded surface. The
spines, unlike those of the urchin, are neither simple nor natural in appearance. Jagged, man-made, disconnected, they resemble the rise of metropolitan buildings. Yet they also give "Orb" a hard, defensive look, much as a weapon might have. In dialogue with "Urchin," "Orb" seems a reminder of how humans continually grow, develop, build, destroy in ways that are sometimes simultaneously beautiful and violent.
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