Gritty Delight | Erin Lani

The acts of layering, outlining, and coloring are not just characteristics within art but also architecture as well. Architecture has always been a way to effectively exhibit art, providing spaces that emphasize the importance of Art and becoming its own art form as well. As time has passed we’ve seen how architecture and art have transformed, and in this gritty urbanized world we live in now, it only makes sense that our art and architecture reflect those qualities.

Graffiti, once thought of to be a highly looked down upon form of branding, a criminal’s art so to speak, has found its way into Erin Lani’s project titled Gritty Delight. Here graffiti is explored for its creative and colorful implications within architecture where the arc of the wrist, elbow and arm have been engaged to create dynamic and woven compositions. The act of designing, drawing, and painting contains similar processes that taking the inspiration of one and transcribing it to another presents itself with a unique opportunity.

Expression through color has a long tradition in architecture creating depths and highlights derived from a single experience. Color carries with it an immense amount of weight and meaning that can help accentuate a concept or point of view within the work. This project deals with color by studying its inhabited condition rather than objectifying it.

Gritty Delight demonstrates the manipulation of poché where outlines are used to define various geometric spaces, a process seen in graffiti. These outlines not only separate color but also define different characters or programs within the design. According to the designer, art, science, technology, and outreach play colorful characters or programs that formally mingle within and about the whole. In the end, the piece reflects an expression of culture that promotes a sense of freedom, youth, and adventure which plays to an exciting and new view of architecture.

Credits :

Gritty Delight-Graffiti Architecture
SCI-Arc
Thesis by Erin Lani