Fantasy Architecture

What joyful elegance can be found in the architectural visions of artists that never saw a single stone lain in their realisation.

To the right is an example. It is called 'An Aviary' by Felix Vionnois and can be seen in the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. It is one of a series which we will share with you in due course, gems lost in the mass of Parisian galleries and private collections. It is one man's vision of a purity in architecture; perfect form set in a parkland full of reflective, inspired calm, devoid of ennui and unbalance. It is a sophisticated statement of man's presence within Arcadia, of his oneness with the natural world, but at the same time an unashamed statement of man's dominance over the natural environment but it is not [or at should not] be one of overseeing control, like a master over his conquered slave concubine, more one of benign custodianship.

This is illustrated by the function of the building. An aviary, a beautiful structure dedicated to the nurture of birds. Space to be free of wing but safe from predictors and cared for by skilled avarians. A civilised statement of metropolitan environmental intent.