Artists and designers have the opportunity to escape on week-long summer residencies in a new artist pod, located in a position that promises to inspire creativity. Created by designer Jordan Ralph and his team, Studio Drop was originally commissioned by the arts organisation Drop Everything, for Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture (which has been extended to 2021 because of the pandemic).
A boat builder's vision
Ralph – an architectural, interior and product designer, whose practice focuses on sustainable process – spent time with local Inis Oírr boat builders for inspiration. Galvanised by witnessing the restoration of the Loveen Galway Hooker fishing boat, Ralph modified his Studio Drop design based on the traditional techniques seen in Hooker builds, which are designed to deal with the harsh North Atlantic weather encountered on the local coast. Ralph channelled this rugged, element-ready typology into Studio Drop, resulting in an experimental project with a one-of-a-kind construction.
The framework of Studio Drop when it was under construction, with views across the headlands of Inis Oírr
A wooden frame supports a tapered wooden structure, resembling local Martello towers: small fortresses that are dotted along the coastline. Studio Drop also resembles a contemporary take on a clochán – a low, stone, beehive-shaped dwelling commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard.
Cylindrical in structure, the tiny studio has a window framing the vast sea beyond. Surrounded by outdoor cooking and seating areas, the pod invites the outside in, while providing a private and meditative space to design, think, read, write, and develop ideas.
Inside, the nautical inspiration continues. A hammock-style daybed is made from a trawler net washed ashore during a winter storm, salvaged by local fisherman. A wrap-around bench mirrors the circularity of a crow's nest.
Drop Everything: a freeing antidote to lockdown
Opening on the summer solstice, 21 June, Studio Drop arrives, after a year of varying interiority, with the promise of bracing sea air and far-off horizons. The summer of creative residencies will run until August 2021.
Intended for a life beyond Galway, Studio Drop has been designed to be transferrable to other locations. Watch this space.
INFORMATION
-
Riva El-Iseo is the legendary boat builder’s first fully-electric motor yachtThe Riva El-Iseo electric speedboat blends classic Italian lines with a silent, powerful and zero-emission powertrain
-
Technogym Home Bench 40 ways: designers interpret the home exercise classicTechnogym marks its 40 anniversary with 40 special editions of its Home Bench created in collaboration with international creatives
-
AHEC presents new works in American maple as part of the Wallpaper* Class of ’24The American Hardwood Export Council takes part in the Wallpaper* Class of ’24 exhibition at Triennale Milano during Salone del Mobile (16-21 April 2024), presenting new pieces by Parti and Giles Tettey Nartey in American hard maple
-
Step inside the spirit world of Church of Oak's headquarters in IrelandNew Irish whiskey brand Church of Oak gets a headquarters with a strong identity designed by boutique studio ODOS Architects
-
Architects Directory Alumnus: Grafton ArchitectsThe Wallpaper* Architects Directory has turned 20. Conceived in 2000 as our index of emerging architectural talent, this annual listing of promising practices, has, over the years, spanned styles and continents; yet always championing the best and most exciting young studios and showcasing inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. To mark the occasion, in the next months, we will be looking back at some of our over-500 alumni, to catch up about life and work since their participation and exclusively launch some of their latest completions. Ireland's Grafton Architects was featured in the magazine's first ever Architects Directory, in 2000, and has since grown exponentially in architectural output and influence, becoming, amongst other things, one of the world's go-to studios for inspiring education buildings. Here, we look at their School of Economics at Université Toulouse 1 Capitole in France.
-
Grafton's Town House is a celebration of openness and communityGrafton Architects designs Town House for Kingston University London, combining a library and a dance school in a building conceived around light, openness and social interaction
-
TOBWALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS’ DIRECTORY 2019: Dublin-based Thomas O Brien takes architectural history and building plans as a starting point for his designs. He adopts a straightforward approach that places materials and construction visibly at the forefront, expressing honesty and clarity through architecture. Projects include Knockraha (pictured), a trussed extension to a family home in County Cork.
-
Dublin house gets brutalist makeover by GKMP Architects -
Pálás in Galway takes arthouse cinema to the next level -
‘Freespace’ highlights openness and optimism at 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale -
DUA
