hidden reuse

In this type of mosaic floor, second-hand building elements are arranged in an interplay of given/found geometry and designed patterns.

a Cosmati-style floor, from Hans-Rudolf Meier, Spolien, Jovis, 2020, fig.132, p.179

Building elements such as columns were sliced to create floor tiles. The image above shows part of the floor from the 18th century at the cathedral in Ravenna. In his book, H.-R. Meier describes this example as an adoption of Opus-sectile, an older technique of mosaic, with which slices of columns were used as floor tiles along with other demolition fragments to fill the gaps in between (see image below).

Patterns are partially defined by design intent, and partially by the distinct characteristics of the inventory.
The editing of parts plays a significant role in creating a coherent structure on one hand, but also allowing the fragments to maintain significant autonomy, which refers to their previous purpose in an abstract way.

Even though, these examples are 2D constructions, the concept of choreographing found objects in a new context could be translated into 3D assemblies.