The quest for neoclassical compositions led to the design of the chaotic, disordered, man-made, “ruin-ish” Pasticcio, as Sir John Soane termed. The drawings were inspired by two doctrines of classical explorations, one Italian, one English. Piranesi’s colonnaded courtyard (1740-42) and Gruppo di Scale offer new perspectives to explore transition space, from scenery making to order re-grouping. While Piranesi may offer the scales and compositions, Soane definitely remains the primary influence on displays and colonnades in his House museum, presenting the disorder in an orderly fashion as a sign of early English modernity. Stage of Antiquity, the new part of Bunny Wonderland, has brought the fantasies about antiquity, from the common open space of ruins and circus, to the semi-open arena where Pasticcio, the representation of disorder about elements, space and meaning, is presented and competes with one another for adventurous imagination, for monumental composition and for classical spirit.

The project was developed at the Bartlett School of Architecture.