ann arbor MICHIGAN

suckerPUNCH: Describe your project.
Outpost OFFICE: Primitive Ring is an amphitheater proposal for the campus of the Ragdale Foundation…

…The proposal is embedded with formal structures and motifs of the original Ragdale Ring, but rendered in a moment of collapse to offer performers and spectators an environment oscillating between the natural and unnatural, the permanent and the temporary and the formal and spontaneous. Inspired by the striking motif of arched thresholds in Howard Van Doren Shaw’s original design, Outpost Office’s Primitive Ring is composed of several large monolithic obelisks supporting a thin, incomplete lintel encircling the lawn and delineating a space for gathering and performance.
The Primitive Ring creates a continuous backdrop for in-the-round performances and offers a series of toppled monoliths that can be used as secondary stages. Inside the Ring, guests can gather in informal clusters of blankets on the lawn or seek higher vantages perched on horizontal monoliths. The individual monoliths straddle an uncanny relationship between column and stone, embodying the natural and artificial motifs of Van Doren’s Arts and Crafts work filled with asymmetrical, picturesque compositions.
The language of the Primitive Ring evokes the stereometric weight of carved stones, but these large monoliths are actually hollow structures clad with an extremely lightweight veneer of radius bending plywood. The relevance of using wood in this project is twofold: 1. Wood detailing and wooden decorative elements are characteristics of Arts and Crafts architecture and featured in many of Van Doren’s works. 2. The thin wood veneer construction creates a scene which is something between the temporality of a scenographic backdrop and heaviness of an ancient ruin. Wood is clearly at home in the Ragdale lawn, yet it’s light color will contrast with the saturated green setting and provide a visually striking silhouette upon approach.

Outpost Office is
Erik Herrmann (@erikherrmann) &
Ashley Bigham (@ashleymbigham)

 

Outpost Office would like to thank Maggie Cochrane for her help with this project.

Find out more at: www.outpost-office.com