AES - Bijl x Marcus Piper x Axolotl

Commissioned by our Maranatha House clients, the AES artwork is a collaboration with digital craftsperson Marcus Piper and Axolotl Art Projects, with significant construction and fabrication inputs by builder Stuart Wilson Constructions and Pittwater Joinery.

A self-described Digital Craftsperson – Piper’s tools are digital though each work he creates is crafted. Site-specific, AES embodies both Bijl Architecture and Piper’s desire to work with light and the surrounding environment – forming experiences, gestures and surprise. By pursuing this approach, AES is not only site-specific but also part of Bijl’s ongoing project to embed art in the everyday experience of our work.

From the artist -

“AES is a work that resides in the space where art, design and architecture meet. It is a work focused on the person who is viewing, and thus, using it.

It is an exploration of form, materiality and experience. Derived from the journey and function inherent in something as utilitarian as a stairwell, AES brings life to the simple hand-rail and carries people through moments in and of the day.”

Similarly to the De-Form Wall project, the design process for AES involved not only reviewing samples and prototypes, but also engaging in the digital fabrication operations required to realise the work. Integral to this collaborative design process was acknowledging and developing the potential of the expressive panel arrangement that forms the artwork - interrogating the panel shapes, placement, articulation, lighting, and installation.

Formed of multiple bronze panels which have been carved and embossed using processes not explored previously, AES is undoubtedly the centrepiece of the Maranatha House. By accentuating moments and highlights, the final and specific placement of the panels allows distinct plays of natural and artificial light, casting and creating shadows that present a different experience with each individual journey through the dwelling.