An early design of iconic Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff has been recreated in a virtual reality experience.
The project by Frame Labs in collaboration with architect Stuart Harrison is part of a Screenwest and State Library of Western Australia initiative, WA Reflections, to recreate and reinterpret forgotten parts of the state’s history.
Frame Labs worked with Harrison to decide on the best building to recreate, based on the available material from the state library’s archives.
Reflections of Iwanoff tours Harrison House, which was designed for Jack and Maria Harrison in 1953. It was located at Dodonia Gardens in City Beach and has since been demolished.
Frame Labs says the house was chosen “because it represented the essence of Iwanoff’s design work and was an early commission,” and also the people who had lived in the house provided “unparalleled access to fantastic research material.”
The house would have one of Iwanoff’s earliest commissions in Australia after he emigrated Europe through the International Refugee Organization resettlement scheme in 1950.
Reflections of Iwanoff at the launch of WA Refelctions.
Image:
Charles Hayne
Iwanoff later worked as a draughtsman for Krantz and Sheldon in Perth and for Yuncken, Freeman Bros, Griffith and Simpson in Melbourne.
The funding from Screenwest and the State Library of WA have allowed Frame Labs to demonstrate proof of concept of their innovative documentary format.
Stuart Harrison is both producer and voice over artist for the virtual reality tour.
Plans are in place for a six-part series with Harrison that would examine the works of six iconic architects in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne through a hybrid of television, streaming and virtual reality formats.
The WA Reflections initiative is designed to engage with emerging and mid-career filmmakers to interpret archived collections at the State Library and bring them to life in a screen experience.
Other projects include a dramatization of a murder mystery that took place in the ballroom of WA’s Government House, a look back at the early days of rock and roll at the iconic Hi-Fi club and the projection of archival Frederick Samson films over the streets of Fremantle.
Each of the screen experiences will be presented to the public at live events from July to October. The screening of Reflections of Iwanoff will take place on 9 September.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
