# The Cabinet of Curiosities by Amandine Kastler

before RIBA's President's medals 2008, here is one of the two last year winners...

The Cabinet of Curiosities by Amandine Kastler, student in Architectural Association

Designed to store figurative marble sculptures and small sacred silver objects, the newly constructed architectural body shares the exuberance and sculptural qualities of the figurative pieces it contains. The ornamental language is developed from a material
investigation originating from the traditional craft methods employed to create the stored objects which are adapted into contemporary building processes, giving expression and new meaning to the 'Cabinet of Curiosities'.
The anthropomorphic container refers to John Ruskin's theory in 'The Lamp of Beauty'(1849),that out of all natural forms, imitating human form is the noblest. The visitor is invited to view the objects in a visceral and experiential atmosphere rethinking the legitimacy of the neutral white cube and the museum as a site of timeless preservation.