During the walk around the neighborhoods of San Francisco, I began finding a series of buildings that had been squished or pinched together in various ways to sites that seemed too small. I kept finding more of these spaces, and learned a little about how they had come into being from too many people trying to settle on the hill I was walking after the the cities devastating earthquake. I also learned a little about the anomalous squishes that came to be purely out of spite for a neighbor and a bit of space that was allowed for legal building.
The tactic while making these collages was mostly an interrogation of the most squished elements I saw. It started with a squished building, and then a look at what on the façade was encouraging this to happen. Was it a door that looked too narrow? Or some gaudy decoration that wouldn’t have fit without being forced? Was it something I hadn’t considered or encountered yet? Each of these questions left me with a different piece of different buildings. When constructed together in this collage, these elements created an embodiment of the squish. Or at least a set of rules I thought were fit enough to be followed again, and that would bring forward elements that made the precedent houses so interesting.
The tactic while making these collages was mostly an interrogation of the most squished elements I saw. It started with a squished building, and then a look at what on the façade was encouraging this to happen. Was it a door that looked too narrow? Or some gaudy decoration that wouldn’t have fit without being forced? Was it something I hadn’t considered or encountered yet? Each of these questions left me with a different piece of different buildings. When constructed together in this collage, these elements created an embodiment of the squish. Or at least a set of rules I thought were fit enough to be followed again, and that would bring forward elements that made the precedent houses so interesting.
These images below are of the houses I looked at while walking. They were next deconstructed into the collage drawn above.
