1:1 Sets for Erwin Olaf, 2013

1:1 Sets for Erwin Olaf is part of a series of exhibitions consisting of 1:1 models that focus on the specific qualities of the interior at the intersection of architecture and design. The exhibition was made up of six existing, three-dimensional sets made for the photographer Erwin Olaf by the set designer Floris Vos. These sets created a world that existed only for the photograph, solely to bring a character to life. Erwin Olaf uses historical styles in his sets to suggest a certain idea or feeling and to evoke a mood. The decoration - dresses, curtains, wallpaper - is related to Gottfried Semper's Bekleidungstheorie. Not the (invisible) structure of a building is the most important tool for the architect to express himself, but the visible layer that covers the structure. Erwin Olaf's sets consist purely of decoration, the 'architecture' is lacking. By looking next to and behind the sets, it is explicitly shown that these are temporary, unfinished constructions, where only the decoration creates the illusion. The wooden structure only serves to carry the decoration.