John Wardle Architects was the joint-winner of the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2015. In 2016, his design ‘Perspectives on a Flat Surface’ was commissioned by Judith Neilson AM and woven at the Australian Tapestry Workshop.  

Our almost complete lack of knowledge of the process of making a tapestry assisted us greatly in the design of our entry for the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects. Had we known more, we may have, in the intense process of developing our proposal, become overwhelmed by the technical skills and artistry of tapestry making that we now know much more about.

The colour fields that formed our composition have taken shape as countless decisions on this very particular construction process have been made. As the work emerges upwards from its base, the many conversations can be recorded between ourselves and the weavers and staff of the Australian Tapestry Workshop. We have learnt a lot and I think they have been entertained by this process of our further education.

Our tapestry endeavours to tell a story and in doing so create a bridge between the work of architects and their three dimensional realm and that of tapestry makers and their representation via the weft and warp of a single plane.

The title of our work Perspectives on a Flat Surface provides an introduction to this story:

As a young graduate architect, I visited the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. This remarkable theatre, designed by Palladio in 1550, houses Vincenzo Scamozzi’s trompe l’oeil street scene. Unveiled for the theatre’s opening in 1558, the design is renowned for creating the exaggerated perspective from each of Palladio’s four portals.

Upon entering the vacant theatre, the voice of an elderly Italian man, speaking English with an American accent, could be heard reciting the theatre’s history. Initially unseen and then only fleetingly he walked back and forth, along and between Scamozzi’s streets, describing the intentions of its great creators. He began by drawing upon the compositional techniques used for each variant perspective, highlighting how combined they achieve a performative quality within the space, distorting our perceptions of scale and distance. He continued his narrative by describing an additional perception, that of aural shape. Immersing himself within the surroundings, he became a character, projecting his voice in a manner that supported his thesis: that acoustic character is also formed within the confines of a space, lending it a perspective reading of equal value to that perceived visually. This idea was heightened in his closing performance as he walked to the front of the stage ready to engage with us, his audience of two, he looked straight ahead, missing us completely. We realised that this elderly man was in fact blind and his perception acutely aural.

We endeavoured to design a tapestry that would emulate this experience by creating additional perspectives within a fixed space. The new Australian Pavilion, Venice that was proposed as the setting for this competition is the quintessential white cube, a neutral volume, intentionally mute with no pronounced character or proportional bias. The installation of artworks is to provide the experience.

Our inaugural tapestry referred to our own exchange between Italy and Australia. A series of sets have been created that reverse Scamozzi’s inverted perspectives, forming a series of picture planes drawn toward the audience. Each multiplies shifting perspectives across one wall whilst allowing another to exaggerate the proportions of the space. The partial views and variant transmissions of light within each inverted chamber suggest a place that is ‘elsewhere’.

In rendering our proposal we suggested fine pixels to translate our ideas into the weft and warp of the tapestry weaver’s fine craft.

- John Wardle.