Welcome to WillacyStudio79
”As Found”
Drawing
I became an architect because I loved to draw as a youngster. Over time, my role as an architect changed, spending less and less time drawing. Recently, I have rediscovered the joy of drawing. I asked my family not to buy me Christmas presents; I would prefer something they had made themselves or something recycled. I started drawing again, making presents of them, which rekindled my love for drawing.
Workshops
I grew up in a small village The Lake District, in northern England. My family are 5th-generation carpenters and general building contractors. I spent most of my youth inside my grandad Tom's, dad David's, and Uncle Robin’s workshop and their building sites. This has left me with a fascination for craftsmanship and workshops of all kinds, as well as the people who use them. This year marks the 150th anniversary of DH Willacy and Sons, which has inspired two drawings created from photographs taken in the 1970s.
As Found Portraits
Most of my professional life has been based in Aarhus, Denmark. While serving as the chief city architect here for almost a decade, Aarhus experienced unprecedented growth. Many of the projects I was involved with are still ongoing, and I am keen to follow their progress. Many of the drawings I create represent these building sites, completed projects, along with local buildings and environments that have character and a certain quirkiness, which I find interesting. I particularly enjoy neglected, unassuming buildings, often in old industrial areas, harbours, and farm buildings, beautifully located in their landscapes.
The Harbour
Being a coastal city, Aarhus boasts the largest industrial harbour in Denmark. Continuously growing over centuries with remnants from an industrial age with their factories, warehouses, cranes, slaughterhouse, power station, grain silos, offices and of course vast tracts of land used for transport infrastructures; freight yards, marshalling areas, maintenance yards, container terminals often cut off in secured maritime environments. These usually quite ordinary buildings demand my attention with their uncomplicated simplicity and authenticity. Often added to with a refreshing, unsentimental attitude, amalgamating into a bricolage of add-ons.
Many of these buildings have become dormant, waiting to be transformed into new uses. This transformation process, if we’re not careful, often leads to gentrification, where the traces of history, their palimpsest over time, often disappear.
Walking - flaneur
I am a keen walker, a kind of flaneur, which brings me into many interesting places. Living on the coast of East Jutland, we have the benefit of wonderful coastal treks, combined with large areas of woodland and forest. Big skies with continuously changing cloud formations, the light conditions are striking. These capture my attention and inspired drawings.
Visitor
Whenever I travel, I enjoy experiencing places that are off the beaten track, and I enjoy revisiting the photographs of these places when I return home, often seeing things that were missed on first viewing.
Contact
For original drawings, please contact me here for more information and prices
