Friday, October 14, 2011

Cathedral and Sacred Space Inspired Decorating


Religious Symbolism Bedevils Home Décor

In the beginning there was the list. And the list was good. It was a brainstormed listing of muse ideas for home decor that we were interested in rocking. Mod Home and Mad Men made the list – and we are working on putting these muses on paper. Cathedral also made the cut.
A Cathedral line of home décor, in our imagination, would be clean and modern, perhaps produced in white wood and in dark, and include religious or ecclesiastical symbology and architectural elements.
Typically, when we start working on a muse (which is great fun even if the product isn’t ready for the marketplace), we start out looking at magazines and books, build a Google image archive, and then start peppering our big metal storyboards at Acornhill with pictures. We also plan, as we get further along in the process, to see movies that inspire the muse and method design by dressing the part! We’ve done some of this, but it requires more time and money, so for now we do what we can.
For Cathedral, I researched Gothic furniture, which we touched on in our Tim Burton Muse week. The coolness about Gothic furniture is that it was originally designed and built by monks in the 12th century. This explains all of the elaborate carvings and religious and church architectural design they put into the furniture.
In the sequential storyboard that follows, I’ve started out with fantastic cathedral pictures to start building the story, and from which we can pull elements. Next is series furniture that pulls from this muse from an antique, Victorian, or Neo-Gothic perspective. Finally, I’ve pulled together some room settings and sketches.
Had we more time this week, I would love to get pull in other non-Christian architecture and symbology as muses, because there are some really beautiful temples and sacred nature spaces to explore, but we will have to leave that for another day and concentrate today on the Cathedral as muse.
Hope you enjoy!
Shine On! Braxton

Cathedral Muses- the Exteriors...







Cathedral Muses - The Interiors...












Thought we might be able to pull some fabric patterns from floors...

Love labyrinths!




Gothic, Victorian Gothic, and Neo-Gothic Furnishings that pull from the Cathedral Muse...

Easy to see the Cathedral influence in some of these...

Fun Neo-Gothic Trays















How these elements might translate into room decor, just as a starting point...
Fun alternative to a headboard

Very heavy and layered - old school luxury

Hotel in Belgium. Get a sense of a sacred space here

Modern, but classical lines to furniture and heroic graphic touches on our story

Love the color and pattern. Lots of dustcatchers here...

Beautiful room - windows tell the story, as does the ceiling height and archetecture

Another Belgian hotel shot. Wow

Dark and regal

Another transitional juxt of modern and classical, with supergraphic

Fantastic setting. The Gothic elements here are dark and classical

Great juxt of darkness and light here, for a theatrical installation.

The Sketches...



 

2 comments:

Leslie Richman said...

That's impressive. I didn't think this style was for me, but I love a lot of the ideas now that I see them in real rooms!

Braxton and Yancey said...

Thanks Leslie. This is just a starting point in our storyboarding this vibe, but I think there is something here we can use. I'm digging the sacred space theme more than a purely religious theme... So much rich architecture and symbology here. Brax

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