{"id":199558,"date":"2022-08-03T13:36:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T17:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=199558"},"modified":"2022-10-21T17:50:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T21:50:34","slug":"bobby-niven-scotland","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/bobby-niven-scotland\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tiny Concrete Structure by Bobby Niven Offers Writer Residencies in Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The one-room interior, which will host writer residencies and workshops, has engineered-oak flooring, a stove, and 8-foot-long oak wall sculptures derived from historic depictions of scribes using both arms. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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August 3, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Annie Block<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Keith Hunter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Tiny Concrete Structure by Bobby Niven Offers Writer Residencies in Scotland<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Bobby Niven is an artist\u2019s artist. A sculptor who\u2019s had solo shows throughout the U.K. and Canada, he also devotes part of his practice to the Bothy Project<\/a>, a network of simple shelters he\u2019s designed across Scotland, each a unique response to the surrounding landscape and an invitation to artists to retreat in them off-grid. So, when it came time to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath, a document listed by UNESCO on the Memory of the World register that essentially called for freedom from English claims of sovereignty over Scotland, with a small building devoted to creativity on the grounds of the 12th-century Arbroath Abbey, Niven was selected for the commission. \u201cThe history includes monks who could transcribe and illustrate documents, even bound manuscripts into books, in the abbey\u2019s scriptorium. The ability to read, write, and convey information and document history was as powerful then as it is today. I sought to reflect that activity in the structure\u2019s interior,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prefabricated off-site, the 160-square-foot installation, called The New Scriptorium, was trucked to the 3 \u00bd-acre grounds, sited so that it\u2019s generous window frames picturesque abbey views. Mounted on some interior walls are long limblike sculptures in colors inspired by those in medieval manuscripts. Their embrace, the bright of the skylight, and the warmth of the woodburning stove should help to inspire writers during their one-month residency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The New Scriptorium is a two-year-long installation by sculptor Bobby Niven on the grounds of Scotland\u2019s Arbroath Abbey. Prefabricated, its oak frame is clad in concrete panels. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The one-room interior, which will host writer residencies and workshops, has engineered-oak flooring, a stove, and 8-foot-long oak wall sculptures derived from historic depictions of scribes using both arms. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Web Exclusive Image: The structure was lifted by crane onto the abbey grounds. Photo by Neil Hanna. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n