From Image to Place

This academic exercise explored the translation of a two-dimensional work of art into three-dimensional form. Working from Georges Braque’s "Man with a Guitar", the challenge was not to recreate the painting literally, but to interpret its underlying composition—its geometry, overlapping planes, fragmented forms, texture, rhythm, and movement—and imagine how those relationships might exist in space.

With no prescribed functional or material constraints, the exercise encouraged a different kind of design thinking: What happens when an image is no longer confined to a flat plane? Which elements move forward or recede? Where does solid become void? How can line become structure, and texture become material?

The resulting sculpture became an abstract interpretation of Braque’s composition, using layered wood, contrasting textures, transparency, and linear elements to give physical dimension to relationships suggested within the original painting.

Exercises such as this develop an important foundation for Landscape Architecture. They teach us to look beyond the literal—to recognize proportion, hierarchy, balance, movement, texture, positive and negative space, and then reinterpret those ideas in three dimensions. The subject may change, but the process of seeing, abstracting, and composing remains fundamental to design.

The exploration continued by imagining the sculpture at an architectural scale—as the focal point of an urban public space.

Once removed from the studio and placed within a landscape, the object takes on an entirely different role. It is no longer something viewed independently; it becomes an element around which space, movement, architecture, vegetation, and human activity are organized.

The conceptual model explores this relationship by positioning the sculpture at the center of an urban courtyard. Buildings establish the edges of the space, trees introduce rhythm and human scale, and pedestrian circulation moves around and through the composition. The sculpture becomes both a visual landmark and an organizing element—a point of orientation within the larger environment.

The progression from Braque's two-dimensional composition, to abstract sculpture, and ultimately to an imagined public space demonstrates an important principle of landscape architecture: an idea can move across scales and mediums while retaining its underlying design language.

What began as an interpretation of line, plane, texture, and geometry ultimately became an exploration of place.

I think that last sentence would be particularly strong beside this model photograph. And on the page, I'd actually present these as a three-part sequence:

01 — Artwork
Interpreting the composition

02 — Sculpture
Translating image into form

03 — Urban Space
Transforming form into place

That makes this academic exercise much more compelling in your portfolio. The visitor can literally follow the evolution of one idea from a Braque painting all the way into landscape architecture.