Architect/Artist: Hal Ingberg & His Modern Glass Structures
- Author: Abby Wilcox
- Posted on: Wednesday June 16, 2010 at 7:00 AM
- Filed under: hal ingberg, architect, architecture, design, canadian, canada, flaming lips, sigur ros, massive attack, broken social scene, sparklehorse
Crafting surreal multi-dimensional glass structures, Montreal-based architect/artist Hal Ingberg has illuminated public spaces in a Canadian city near you. In a quest for transparency, reflection, and refraction, his larger-than-life work makes you feel as if you are looking through a kaleidoscope. His dynamic designs that incorporate both colored and non-colored glass morph the sun's light depending on the time of day, offering ever-changing patterns and vibrant textures to our otherwise fixed earth.
ABOVE: Réflexions colorées - an equilateral triangle of green glass surrounding three birch trees (Quebec).
Hal has worked as an architect in large scale building projects all over the world, and as of late, has emerged as a prominant artist in the Canadian public art scene. We chatted with Hal exclusively on his process, his use of glass as a medium, his take on public art, and, yes, even his favorite bands. Read anything and everything you ever wanted to know about the intricacies of glass - and more - below.
JT: Where is the confluence of architecture and art?
Hal: For me, it lies primarily within creating relationships in space and how those relationships affect how people use and perceive space.
ABOVE: Katsu
JT: How did you conceive this unique design aesthetic for public art with colored glass? What is the significance of using glass vs. another medium?
Hal: I don’t ever come to a commission with the intention of using colored glass. I also work with other media and with other types of glass. With “Katsu” I used a product that allows for the creation of delicate stripes of mirror and transparency in single panels of glass. That helps create a condition where we can simultaneously see through and be reflected by the work. But when I choose to work with colored glass or with glass in general, I would usually be interested in its potential to in some way affect our perception of the work throughout the day and year round.
For instance with “Papa”, the position and the intensity of the projected colored rays of light on the pavement changes from morning to night and through the seasons. As for the glass itself, at certain times of the day, it’s very transparent and delicate while at other times, it’s rather opaque and “heavy”. I don’t know of other materials that can transform our perception of a work as radically as can glass. So if our visual understanding of a work is in a perpetual state of flux, I would hope that it would encourage people’s continued interest in and of enjoyment the work over time.
JT: Tell me a little about your background in architecture...
Hal: I did my undergraduate studies in architecture at McGill University in Montreal and my graduate studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. I’ve lived and worked in London, Rome and Barcelona and I’ve worked on the design of some very big and some very small buildings in Montreal. I’ve also taught architectural design studios at the University of Montréal, School of Architecture for the last ten years.
ABOVE & BELOW: Papa in the National Capital Region of Canada (Ottawa)
JT: What is your favorite color? How do you choose your color relationships with the glass?
Hal: I don’t have a favorite color. I understand colors as an integral with materials. Colors on their own don’t mean that much to me without understanding how they are made. I’m interested in the characteristics of the materials that I choose to work with and how they affect color. Is the material matte, textured, partly or entirely reflective, etc? For instance, drywall painted red will not have the same characteristics as red glass. And red glass will have different qualities if it is opaque, transparent, reflective, etc.
There is also the important question of dimension. In general, the use of many colours at a single time works best when the surface area of a project is large. Too many different colours on a small surface area can kill a work. That’s partly why you’ll find many colors in “Papa” (below) and only single colors on my smaller works.
ABOVE: Dirty Magic
JT: There is something magical about people experiencing your art on a daily basis in a public place. How has this idea affected your thought process in choosing public art?
Hal: “Experiencing” is the precise word. To an important extent, I’m focused on making intense optical experiences for people to experience with other people. I don’t approach art in public in a way that is significantly different to the way that I approach architecture. All of my work is fundamentally spatial, whether it’s architecture or architectural. The public pieces could even conceivably be thought of as tests for or fragments of buildings that I might some day design. Everything about these works can in some manner potentially be translated into architecture even if we might call them art.
ABOVE & BELOW: Beacon - a perspective from the inside
JT: What are five bands you are listening to at the moment?
Hal: The Flaming Lips, Sparklehorse, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, Broken Social Scene
JT: Does music affect your creative process in any way?
Hal: I can’t really say if music affects my thinking process, while I’m working. But there are always ideas in the air that affect all or most of the arts at any one time. I don’t know if Kazuyo Sejima listens to Sigur Ros, or if Rem Koolhaas listens to the Massive Attack, but if I force myself a bit, I can see some similarities in their respective works that could maybe be linked to a certain spirit of our time. So my own creative process is probably affected in a similar way.
ABOVE: Beacon - a perspective from the outside
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COMMENTS
“ thanks for sharing about this amazing architcture. its always interesting to see how one can build a house.. i recently saw this documentary about a guy who spent his life devoted to building enviromentally friendly houses without electricity. think it was called garbage warrior. sigur ros is brilliant.the man got taste. xx ediot ediot.org ”
