Gravitas Academic Monument — Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study

 

Plastic Shell Study — Reflective Vertical Monument on Studio Table

Reflective shell model on the studio table, testing vertical form, base structure and material presence.

Side View of Working Trophy Shell with Studio Tools .23

Side view of the working model with studio tools and background context.

Folded Shell and Stepped Base Construction Study

Folded shell and stepped base study, showing how the object begins to hold weight and void.

Silver-Grey Shell Construction Study for Academic Monument

Silver-grey shell study showing the same monument form in a quieter material tone.

This page forms part of the continuing sketchbook and studio process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

This second page focuses on the plastic shell and cement fill study. The photographs show a working model placed on the studio table, together with tools, notes, sketchbook pages, material studies and construction references. The object is still in process. It is not presented here as a final trophy, but as part of the visual thinking and structural testing behind the work.

The study explores how a vertical form, a stepped base, a hollow shell, and a central void can hold weight and presence. Within the language of Gravitas, the object is not treated as decoration. It is treated as a small architectural monument: a structure that must carry silence, balance, weight and material seriousness.

The reflective gold and silver surfaces in these photographs are part of the process investigation. They help test form, edge, shadow, visibility and finish before the object is resolved as a final studio piece. The sketchbook pages show colour notes, void studies, ground area planning and material decisions connected to the larger development of the work.

This process is part of my ongoing studio work in Silent Monumentalism and Gravitas, where structure, silence, weight, surface and material presence remain central.

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Gravitas Academic Monument — Process Series

This page forms part of a continuing sketchbook and process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

• Part 1: Trophy Base and Mould Study
• Part 2: Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study — current page
• Part 3: Assembly, Finish and Presentation Study

For the wider studio framework, see Silent Monumentalism principles and Gravitas as a discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

Related archive: Silent Monumentalism Online Handbook.

Gravitas Academic Monument | Trophy Base and Mould Study

 This sketchbook and process sequence documents an early construction study for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school award concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

The work explores how a small academic trophy can be built from simple geometric forms using a combination of 3D-printed plastic, cement or stone-composite fill, and a cast base structure. The study focuses on proportion, weight, silence, material presence and practical construction rather than decoration.

The base study examines how a rectangular foundation can be cast with a central opening or recess, allowing the upper trophy elements to sit into or onto the structure. This process belongs to the wider development of Silent Monumentalism and Gravitas, where balance, discipline, structure and material seriousness are treated as part of the final object.

This is not a generic trophy-cup design. It is a small monument to learning, effort, academic discipline and achievement.

Gravitas Academic Monument Trophy Base Sketch

Early sketchbook measurement study for the base of the Gravitas Academic Monument trophy system.

Academic Monument Casting Block Study

Sketchbook note exploring how to cast a specific base block with a central hole or recess.

Gravitas Academic Monument Mould Test

Handmade prototype mould testing the shape of the rectangular base and central recess.

Silent Monumentalism Trophy Construction Study

Process view of the mould study while testing the relationship between the base and upper trophy elements.

Gravitas Base Form Construction Test

Top view of the mould prototype, showing the base shape and internal recess area.

Academic Monument Base Recess Study

Side view of the handmade base mould showing the low rectangular form and edge construction.

Studio Process for Gravitas Academic Monument

Studio process image showing the cutting and adjustment stage of the handmade mould prototype.

Gravitas Trophy Mould Material Study

Hand-Cut Prototype Detail for Trophy Base

Wilson Phillips - Hold On | Official Music Video | 27 Febrruary 1990

Notes:

“This study documents the early development of a mould and base system for the Gravitas Academic Monument, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO. The process explores plastic, cement, weight, structure and material presence as part of Silent Monumentalism.”

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Gravitas Academic Monument — Process Series

This page forms part of a continuing sketchbook and process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

• Part 1: Trophy Base and Mould Study — current page
• Part 2: Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study
• Part 3: Assembly, Finish and Presentation Study

For the wider studio framework, see Silent Monumentalism principles and Gravitas as a discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

Related archive: Silent Monumentalism Online Handbook.

Structure Study — Weight, Space and Material Presence

 

Pieter Lategan - Structure Study, Weight, Space and Material Presence, 2026

This sketch is part of my ongoing studio work in Silent Monumentalism and Gravitas.

The drawing shows two simple structural forms placed in relation to one another. One form sits lower and stretches outward, while the other rises more vertically with a heavier upper mass and a smaller base below it. The sketch is not about decoration or a finished object. It is a study of how weight can be felt through placement, shadow, proportion and silence.

The pencil marks are important because they show the thinking inside the work. The construction lines, darker areas, repeated hatching and rough corrections all form part of the studio process. They show how a form is tested before it becomes more resolved. The work is not trying to explain too much. It is asking how two masses can hold space between them.

Within Silent Monumentalism, this kind of study helps me think about structure, stillness and presence. Within Gravitas, it becomes a way to test balance, pressure, support and the quiet tension between forms.

The darker pencil areas give the forms a sense of density. The lighter surrounding lines keep the drawing open, almost like an architectural note or a studio plan. The result is a small sketch, but the concern is larger: how matter occupies space, how silence can carry weight, and how a simple structure can begin to feel grounded.

Pieter Lategan | STUDIO
Pretoria, South Africa

Gravitas Object Study | Weight, Balance and Silence

 

Silent Monumentalism | Early Gravitas Object Study
Artwork by Pieter Lategan 8 Mei 2026

Gravitas Research Notes | Roman Virtue, Weight and Discipline

 Pieter Lategan | STUDIO

Pretoria, South Africa
2026

This post documents early handwritten research notes on Gravitas as a developing discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

These pages form part of the first written investigation into the word gravitas and its connection to weight, dignity, seriousness, restraint, responsibility, and discipline.

At this stage, I am not using Gravitas as a decorative style or a design trend. I am using it as a way to think through how forms hold themselves, how space carries weight, and how material presence can feel grounded, serious, and controlled.

Gravitas is being developed within Silent Monumentalism as a discipline of:

balance
space
weight
proximity
silence
material presence

The word itself has a long history. It is connected to seriousness, dignity, weight, and importance. In Roman thought, gravitas was also associated with restraint, moral seriousness, responsibility, and commitment. This connection matters to my work because Silent Monumentalism is also concerned with weight, stillness, structure, and controlled presence. Gravitas is commonly defined through ideas such as weight, dignity, seriousness, and importance, with Latin roots in heaviness and seriousness.

For me, the important movement is from the meaning of the word into a visual and material discipline.

The question becomes:

How can a small object hold weight?
How can a gap create pressure?
How can a simple block carry seriousness?
How can space become active?
How can material feel quiet but still powerful?

These notes are not final statements. They are working pages.

They show the beginning of a research path that will continue through sketchbook studies, structural drawings, heavy desk objects, small sculptures, paintings, and future architectural ideas.

Gravitas will be tested through form, not only through language.

P135 | Gravitas - First Writings about Balance, Space and Material Presence

Page 135 — First Writings about Gravitas

Gravitas

First writings about Gravitas.

Gravitas is a discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

Gravitas is a discipline concerned with:

balance
space
weight
proximity
silence
material presence

What it is not:

It is not decorative.
It is not only a mood.

It is how forms hold themselves, how space carries weight, and how matter feels grounded, serious, and controlled.

Gravitas - Silent Monumentalism
Pieter Lategan
29 April 2026, 16:51
Pretoria, South Africa

Sketchbook Note - The Beginning of Gravitas

 Pieter Lategan | STUDIO

2026

Today marks the beginning of a new sketchbook direction: Gravitas.

Gravitas is being developed as a discipline within Silent Monumentalism. It will become a way for me to study balance, space, weight, proximity, silence, and material presence through drawings, diagrams, notes, objects, and future sculptural studies.

The work is still at the beginning.

At this stage, I am not presenting a finished visual language. I am opening a field of investigation.

The first studies will focus on:

• grounded base masses
• cantilevers
• constructed voids
• vertical pressure
• supporting volumes
• secondary platforms
• structural tension
• forms that feel quiet, heavy, and controlled

I am especially interested in the idea that empty space is not always empty.

A void can carry pressure.
A gap can create tension.
A small object can hold monumental presence.

The first drawings and structural studies will follow soon. They will begin to show how Gravitas may look, how it may be built, and how it may become part of the wider language of Silent Monumentalism.

For now, this note is the starting point.

Kevin Eikenberry - What Gravitas REALLY Means?

Pieter Lategan
Pieter Lategan | STUDIO
Pretoria / Gauteng, South Africa
6 May 2026

Studio Music Study - Beginning | Desk Sculpture Development

Silent Monumentalism, Pieter Lategan, Pretoria, South Africa, 2026

This music was used during the working process of the desk sculpture development. It belongs here as studio context — not as decoration, but as part of the atmosphere that helped the work begin.

The video connects the emotional beginning of the work with the later material study: two blocks, a gap, weight, reflection, and silence.

Current product development:
Metal Block Study I — Desk Sculpture Development

Origin study:
Structure Study — Don’t Give Up On Me

View the origin of this work:
Beginning — 14 April 2026