My Time to Shine
Against the city’s new urbanity, architecture’s historic ornamental side has become an understated affair; these building details now playing a subsidiary role within the intense cityscape. To bring attention to these delightful accents Giaimo re-presented them at Come Up to My Room and DesignTO Festival 2020 with the help of the rich exteriors of the Gladstone Hotel. The floor and walls of room 206 provide the canvas for light and shadow to collaborate and display these details anew; presenting intangible and fantastical variations of the brick and stone pieces outside the room’s walls.
Client
Come Up To My Room 2020
Location
The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, Canada
Completion Date
2020
Status
Complete
Team
Giaimo
Awards
Canadian Interiors, Best in Canada Award, Exhibit, 2020
Image Credits
Giaimo, Gabby Frank
Experimentation
The design process began by comprehensive study and documentation of the Gladstone’s details. This exercise lead to the reimagination of the elements in new forms and configurations that were printed on clear acetate sheets. The structure is a direct result of experimenting with light and shadow to observe what distance from the light source and surfaces of the room is required to create the desired effects.
A layered approach was taken to build the structure with three frames: A larger outer frame and a smaller inner frame for the wall surfaces followed by a frame for projection on the floor. All frames are connected to each other to allow for adjustments and the largest one is suspended from the ceiling.
Experience
The structure, the collages and chosen light source all collaborate to create intricate shadows with different sizes and textures that animate the room and create a memorable and immersive experience for the visitors. How the visitors move through the space, how they conceive the project and become a part of the it is the final element at play.
