This speculative university project asked Rafael to draw a set for Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information - ‘a social kaleidoscope’ which offers varying perspectives into how we speak, communicate and behave with one another in contemporary society.

Going beyond what is expected from a designer, Rafael is interested in crafting a conversation with the audience. This dialogical relationship starts with confrontation; it is through confronting the audience with social relations of dominance, oppression, and struggle that he initiates the dialogue.

Rafael’s approach to Love and Information, takes references from an existing architectural body of surveillance, Benjamin Bentham’s Panopticon. Departing from a Foucauldian understanding of the concept, which emphasizes surveillance as a technology of power, Rafael recognises the potential of stage design in confronting the viewer with these dynamics.

Crucially, this dialogue is to be predicated on openness and liberty of interpretation. As the text contains few directions, Rafael gave the audience the freedom to imagine scenic elements as something else - a set of chairs and table are positioned in a way that could very easily resemble urinals (above right). This freedom of interpretation applied to furniture disposition was also supported with sound and lighting.

The use of wood and metal alongside white floors and a white background created a minimalist aesthetic evocative of feelings of crudeness. This minimal space is also the ideal one in which to encourage liberty of dialogue; it is void of distractions and provides an architectural blank slate for reflection.

All images are SketchUp drawings designed by Rafael rendered using VRay.

If you wish to see a more detail overview of the project contact Rafael here.