Pyroarchitectures: Construction by Combustion

Pyroarchitectures describe architecture produced by the product of fire. This thesis proposes a conceptual system to engage with burned buildings, their narrative, and a co-existence between a burned artifact and contemporary architecture. A provisional, reciprocal partnership between two parts; burned artifact and contemporary intervention. The system examines the tension between burned existing context and cast new content which traces and records the unpredictability fire has on objects. This thesis utilizes casting as a methodology to preserve and engage a burned artifact; it demonstrates layering and physical indexing with a focus on time and memory. It further explores the possibility to preserve a moment in time to document the form of architecture in spontaneous flux. The Glasgow School of Art has consumed two fires in its lifetime and is used as a case study to explore the relationship between fire and architecture, and pose the question; how can combustion inform construction?