Interior Design
Fiona Brownlow
Chrysalis
From Crosshaven, Co. Cork, I have been living in Limerick for 4 years completing my degree. Thisfinal project shows my love for the local artists and wider community of Limerick. I want to give thisdesign and experience back to the city that has been a huge part of my growing and learning inyoung adulthood.
For this design I created an artist’s space that opens at night as a hostel in Limerick City Centre.Working on this project I drew on my own experience sleeping in an art hostel during Dutch Design Week in 2019. The pop-up hostel by artist Florian de Visser comprised of a series of cardboard boxes and projections. Reference the correct name of the project ‘Tourist-Site-Seeing hotel room at Hotel Insomnia / De Fabriek’. This experience formed an idea of dual use, and a question of why such amazing spaces like art galleries did close at night? how much more exhilarating it was to be able to look at art all night or sleep surrounded by art and be able to become part of the art yourself. To create this space in Limerick I researchedart, culture and history that is abundant in Ireland. I continued with the theory that art follows nature and using the Irish peacock butterfly and its life transformation from caterpillar to cocoon or chrysalis to butterfly and my concept emerged. With this in mind, I designed Chrysalis-An art café and learning space on the ground floor where local artists can sell work and share skills and knowledge. Two art galleries on the first and second floor with hidden beds in the roof are assembled for overnight guests. The first and second floor plans replicate each other similar to butterfly’s wings. The circulation throughout the space also follows the butterfly flight pattern. These spaces create a sense of unity and harmony with the art and create a new experience of going to sleep and waking up surrounded by creativity.