Joseph N. Biondo has paired with internationally recognized abstract painter Ed Kerns to design a conceptual, unbuilt project that will house Kerns’ Bones Like Iron-Blood Like Mercury. This unique collaboration has resulted in an exploratory exercise of modest materials to create a renewed reality within the material condition of a building. “The materials we use are commonplace however, the care for their methods of assembly and absolute passion for scrupulous detailing are not… To make an extraordinary material special is trite, but to heighten one’s awareness of a humble material can be poetic,” explained Biondo.
More images and more about the project after the break.
Situated in the forested landscape of Easton Pennsylvania, the painting construct slowly reveals its layers to the visitor. While first the form may be revealed, soon, details of the material and its relation to the surroundings add to the quality of the space.
After traversing down a ramp that leads to a narrow tunnel, the threshold opens dramatically as light illuminates the space from above. As the structure is designed to hold Kerns’ painting, the construct forms a relationship with the art as the spiraling circulation represents the concentric rings found in Kerns’ work. The painting rests deep within the project, at the base of a free standing wall which anchors the reflecting pool and rises toward the sky.
True to Biondo’s and Kerns’ beliefs about the power of simple and humble materials, the structure is fabricated from one standard material-the concrete masonry unit. Although a modest material, the CMU transmits a “sense of tranquility through appropriate scale, materiality, and detailing-an implied simplicity designed to enhance and compliment the complex layers within the paintings.”
The detailing and quality of construction will allow the project to slowly become part of its surroundings, truly becoming part of nature’s fabric.
Project Credits
Painting Construct : Joseph N. Biondo, Architect
Ed Kerns, Artist
Project Team: Randy Galiotto, Sierra Krause, Pat Ruggiero
In kind support from Spillman Farmer Architects
Location: Easton, Pennsylvania USA
