Inverted Dome
Media Studies / 2012
Architectural Association School of Architecture / Prof. Tobias Klein
Built in the 19th century in the Byzantine style, Catholic Westminster Cathedral in London presents rows of superimposed arches and a series of domes in pendentives. Due to funding issues, its interior is only half-way up covered with mosaic, the domes being left bare. The project completes the first dome. By drawing on 2-dimensional motifs from Byzantine churches, the dome becomes an inverted cupola with 2-dimensional motifs transformed into 3-dimensional forms. The tip of the inverted dome protrudes within creating the impression of a nested dome. The formal game attempts to blur the boundary between near and far, convex and concave, and to examine effect through fabrication.