Garden of Framed Scenes

The Garden of Framed Scenes expands the notion of public art and sculpture to frame a space for the inhabitants of the city. It is situated at an infrastructural crossroads within Fontelo Park—transforming a space of flows into a space of gathering. The outer geometry of the triangle emerges from the site’s paths, delineating the flows around the site. The internal square geometry is used to frame a theatre for collective performance. The resultant form acts as a frame to both the flows and collective gathering on the site. The exceptional beauty of the surrounding landscape is precisely framed to create a porosity in the form, while visually connecting the space of space of movement and pause. Inspired by local Renaissance painter Grao Vasco’s technique of framing and collapsing the background environment into the collective scene of the foreground, the project uses a series of framed openings to recontextualize the surrounding environment. Within the piece, foreground and background are collapsed yet framed, while the position of audience and performer is also oscillating within the geometry.