Emanuel Jannasch

Artists

Emanuel Jannasch

Senior Instructor

School of Architecture, Dalhousie University

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Statement

The medium of building isn't a selection of materials but the processes applied. I enjoy rich results arising from economical means. My motor skills aren’t that fine, so I adore a good quality table saw. I’ve made a complete set of regular and semi-regular polyhedra and I’ve explored the seventeen families of tessellation. I understand the mechanical production and functional implication of various curves and surfaces, and I’ve used them as appropriate. But the tectonic potential of rectilinear geometries remains deeply thrilling. The freedom of association, the super-modularity, the translatability of parts in a field of parallels and right angles might be the greatest gift of nature we’ve ever discovered.

Artworks

Image for entry 'Undrawn Cabinet for Drawing Tools ' — Undrawn Cabinet for Drawing Tools
86.0 x 66.0 x 54.0 cm
Leftover woods and composites, metals, solder, threaded fasteners, glue, hardware.
1992

This cabinet wasn’t made from drawings but from strings of dimensions. Most were never written out, but manifest incremental re-positioning of the table-saw fence. The 4 arched members were cut from a circular scrap, so each is a 90˚ arc. The roof-like element is actually a shelf for drawings, the curve discouraging additional items like coffee-cups. The Fibonacci series of drawer-heights accommodates a distribution of flat, thick, and volumetric items, and represents careful use of an available board. A 5” width was ripped from the 6” stock, and the longer “half” of that ripped to 2” and 3” widths. Thicknesses were reduced proportionally. Splitting the remaining I” strip in half vertically yielded 2 elements of appropriate thinness.

Emanuel Jannasch

Artists