If Roman purple defined 2015 for me then my hope is that Ziggurats form the basis of my designs in 2016. Ziggurats originally derive from Mesopotamia and western Iran. They are essentially a pyramid built up on layers of inter connecting and receding structures of rectangles, oblongs and squares. According to the first historian, Herodotus, at the top of each one lay a shrine. It is believed that in low-lying areas prone to flood, these structures gave priests a chance to escape the flooding.
Ziggurats as we know them today are often related to art deco period architecture, interior architecture, furnishings and jewellery. Seen from the prism of that period they can sometimes be associated with industrialism, fascism and in some instances with the excesses of the roaring 20's and extreme wealth.
An image that is often associated with that period is that of the artist Tamara De Lempicka whose painting of a woman driving a Bugatti often graces the cover of Ayn Rand's seminal book 'The Fountainhead' .
So far we have produced three designs, two of which are below, and we shall work on them continuously throughout 2016, hopefully exploring multiple facets of ziggurats from their ancient to their contemporary forms.
Perhaps one of the reasons I have been enamoured with these structures is that it takes a mathematical, geometrical and spacial mind to understand them well, none of which I am particularly gifted at. So, accordingly, you will find that each of these designs I will work on will be in conjunction with people more gifted than myself.
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| An example of an ancient ziggurat structure |
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| Tamara De Lempicka - art deco period man in a bow tie. |
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| Radio City Hall, New York City |
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| Le Noeud Papillon - ziggurat number 1 - copyright 2016 Le Noeud Papillon |
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| Le Noeud Papillon - ziggurat number 2 - copyright 2016 Le Noeud Papillon |
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