formal manifesta: glam space
Originally, glamour refers to a spell which may be cast on a person. This spell changes how things appear. Support for this definition appears in Christopher Priest's fantasy novel, “The Glamour”, where the ability to render oneself invisible is to possess the glamour. Additionally, in his book “It”, Stephen King uses the word glamour in reference to a creature (It) who is able to shapeshift, or who may be seen differently by different viewers. Finally, in the supernatural t.v. show “Charmed” the glamour is a bewitching power that enables the wielder to transform into another's physical appearance. The primary modern meaning of glamour relates to fascination, charisma, beauty, a kind of exciting and often illusory and romantic attractiveness. Thereby, it describes both a material quality and an immaterial one.
Glamour gives utopian fantasy a sensuality, permitting a human connection. Glamour provides just enough familiarity to lure the imagination. It is a highly mysterious blend of engagement coupled with distance. It is neither transparent nor opaque, but translucent: a partially revealed environment.
This shifting concept of glamour as that which is tangible/intangible is echoed in the notion of The Church which serves as a material representation of the trancendental world. The Church’s often opulant treatment of space not only communicates its otherworldliness but also serves to seduce and to convince those who experience it, of the institution’s power.
Many believe The Church, as described in The Bible, has a dual form that can be described as both the visible and invisible church. The Church visible exists in its physical form in all mortals who identify themselves as Christians. The Church invisible, consists of all those from every time and place, who are eternally united to Christ through regeneration and salvation.
Glamour’s ever-shifting relationship between singularity and duality can be further explored in debates of contemporary building practice, where it is enjoying a resurgence. The modernist mandate of “form follows function” dictated an aesthetic of streamlined forms, void of ornament, historical reference, or gratuitous sensuality. Any decorative feature that was not structurally necessary was deemed architecturally dishonest. Architects today are able to address this issue of honest expression with digital technologies that allow for the integration of pattern, texture, and expressive form into the very structure of buildings, allowing “ornament” to be performative.
Considering the formal characteristics of glamour, the built form of glam space will be a structure within a structure. The outer structure alludes to the interior space but obscures its contents. Enclosed within is a seamless undulating surface which transforms from floor to wall to pulpit to pew and so on. Continuous curves make it difficult to discern depth in the space.
The interior shell will take its cues from the dramatic walls of its baroque predecessors. This undulating skin will work to define the spaces of The Church where transformative events occur. The areas where the clergy convene intensely with God visibly and invisibly in a rite, instituted by Christ, that mediates grace, constituting a sacred mystery: the areas which host The Sacraments.
