"The proposal approaches fire as a constructive phenomenon. Bonfires in particular have great symbolic weight relating to seasonal and material cycles. The project takes these elements as a point of departure by placing equal emphasis on the remnants of the event as on the spectacle itself.

GYRO is devised as a process that creates a permanent clay architecture that will only be revealed through the process of burning.

This is done by utilising traditional materials and techniqes rooted in the ancient pottery traditions of the Orkney Islands. The materials are regionally harvested where possible. A structure of willow branches and peat bricks form the bonfire itself, while natural clay and wire mesh assimiliate to the bonfire's form. The willow and peat burn away throughout the evening and into the night, in turn hardening the parabolic clay forms by their heat.

In the early hours of the following day, the extinguished bonfire has created a peculiar assemblage of otherwordly clay structures. They are unprogrammed and invite occupation and interpretation, by either walking or flying beings. Do they belong to the local archeological remains, or are they perhaps the carcass of the folkloric Gyro monster, who was petrified by the morning light? 

A team of designers and volunteers assemble the construction through a set of simple guidelines. The core module used can be replicated or scaled according to budgetary or other constraints."

Thais Espersen was born in Aarhus, Denmark. He studied at the Aarhus School of Architecture before moving to London to join Peter Cook and Gavin Robotham's CRAB Studio. He graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture in 2012 and has worked as a designer and maker on various projects in London, as well as exhibiting internationally as part of the architecture collective GI/IGA.

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