2020 RIBA Bronze Medal Nominee

‘The Red Hand Reaches Out’

An Architecture for Nick Cave’s ‘Conversations With’ Tour

‘The audience is tentative and no one asks about his son, until Cave himself starts taking about him, about what grief is and what it does. It is rare to hear someone talk so directly about trauma, about what smashes us apart and puts us back together’

‘Conversation With’ Nick Cave – 29th June 2019

The project provides a location for the ‘Conversations With’ Tour, a combination of music and unscreened questions from the audience, providing an insight into this enigmatic figure, an exercise in community and connectivity. With audiences being encouraged to be bold, challenging, confrontational and unafraid, the design enables these events to become more intimate and personal than when performed at large scale arenas. The immersive experience created, nurtures the connection between Cave and the audience members he is known to both encourage and crave.

These ‘Conversations With’ events were developed by Cave as process of healing following the loss of his son, responding to his natural need during that time tone surrounding with people and human interaction. The project focusses on the ability of these events to aid in the healing process of both bereavement and trauma, impacting on the audience and Cave himself. Cave shares with audiences what the tragedy taught him about compassion in others.

The project is a journey through a series of frames, which the inhabitant becomes more and more submerged within. Ascending from the streetscape through the spaces towards a crescendo, a beautiful sky view. It is an architecture to guide people in their emotion.

Development

A series of montages, sketch models, initial plans and sections explore the spaces from the inside out. It was key with such a sensitive programme to focus heavily on the experience, recognising the impact of each decision on users.

The Proposal

The following are a selection of drawings from the final iteration of the design proposal. The drawings highlight the project’s close interaction with its surroundings, at places elements of the design cut into neighbouring properties. Alongside demonstrating key variations in materiality and lighting experienced whilst moving through the design.