Peles Empire is a collaborative project by Katharina Stoever and Barbara Wolff. It is named after a Romanian castle, which was built between 1893-1913. The castle has over a hundred and seventy rooms, each dedicated to varying themes based on different cultures, functions, and style, including Art Deco, Orientalism, Renaissance and, Rococo. Since 2005, Stoever and Wolff have taken on the monumental task of recreating these rooms, so far having completed more than ten.
Right now, they have an exhibition on at
Cell Project Space, displaying a selection of their work so far. The exhibit lasts until the 17th March and starts with the recreation of the armory room, which the artists have reconstructed from using original photographs of the castle's interior and artefacts. Using a French technique called
trompe-l'œil, which means 'deceive the eye', they have managed to create an optical illusion in which 2D environments become 3D spaces.
If you would like to be inspired by some dazzling and impressive recreations, you can visit Cell Project Space Fridays to Sundays between 10am-6pm.