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PROJECT
City Explore Provan’s Lordship Glasgow Cathedral Brittannia Panopticon Music Hall the Briggait the Modern Institute Barrowland People’s Palace
the Steamie the Steamie the Modern Institute Play “the Steamie”
It’s an old building, and it has not aged well‌ David Nathan
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This is a group work, cooperation with people from dierent culture and background benefit me a lot. I learned a variety of methods to accumulate elements during research, like recording sound to express textures, or using smell to remind of atmosphere, instead of traditional way like taking photo or video. These methods allow me to go back to the building again to experience every detail. What impressed most during this survey is the fact that both these buildings, for instance, Brittannia Panopticon Music Hall and Barrowland, are located in an alley which is impossible to find it by yourself. I was really moved by the story happened there in 30’s and wondering what is the best way to revive them and find it way in modern society. Obviously, it’s far less enough to just remain it.
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Doing the presentation of City Explore, we had a conclusion by comparing the dierences and finding the connection between these buildings, like the religious elements and similar structure of window, helping us to know the characters in history.
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the Steamie Why is this building worth being remembered? “From the perspective of city, cities need a mingling of old buildings to cultivate primary diversity mixtures, as well as secondary diversity. In particular, they need old buildings to incubate new primary diversity. ”(Jane Jacobs 1992) To be specific, the Steamie plays a symbolic role in the memory of people from older generation in Glasgow, or even Scotland. Different from the impression left by the modern laundry house with all the facilities to people now, the Steamie, in fact, had a terrible condition with all the laundry must be done by hands. However, many women enjoyed the occasion as it gave them a chance to see their friends and catch up with the local gossip. “Launderettes provided more efficient electric washing machines and driers that took much of the drudgery out of the weekly wash, but many women continued to hanker for the sociability of the old wash-houses.” (Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums)
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the Steamie What are the differences between the Steamie and other aged building? During the later search, I gradually realized that the aged buildings, which usually in a ruined condition and it may speak of how it is made, and in this condition it refers to the past, the present and the future (Fred Scott 2008). But now, we’re not talking about a building with irreplaceable history or with high artistic value. It’s nothing but a house on which some housewives spent every weekends. “What moved me is the spirit that the wummin of the Carneggie Street wash house fight class wars like greasy stains in a simmet, finding beauty in the inexhaustible monotonies of their lives and the mysteries of a pound of mince oot a Galloway's. ”(Scott Purvis 2012)
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the Modern Institute The first when I enter the Modern Institute, I actually enjoyed myself very much, with the skylight on the roof and the structure provided beautiful shadow on the white wall, making the atmosphere quite but not dull. On the one hand, the shadow on wall, which will change along with the position of sun creating different shape in different time of the day, make the space clean but with changes. On the other hand, as a modern gallery, there is no doubt that what should be noticed firstly in this space is the art work. While, as can be seen from the picture , sometimes the shadow influenced people’s feeling when appreciate the work.
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What surprised me was that I found this building was exactly the one which used to be used as the Steamie. Little connection can be found between these two, making me feel disappointed about the bright new wall. A new corpse is laid out.“ It odes not smell yet, but it is just as dead, just as incapable of the constant adjustments, adaptions and permutations that make up the processes of life. ”(Jane Jacobs 1992) Of course, from the perspective of economy and city progress, it’s totally understandable. This is, of course,“ a dynamic process, with what was once new in the mixture eventually becoming what is old in the mixture”. (Grandy Hall 1998)
What depressed most was the spirit of those ladies, which was lack in modern society, was erased by the paint of white wall as well. 7
The famous play by Tony Roper, “the Steamie” , show us the daily life in the wash-house in 1950s. I think this artwork succeed to the spirit of this building. Thus, I came into the idea that change redesign this building as a theatre for this play.
Theatre <the Steamie> Set on Hogmanay in a 1950s Glasgow steamie, Tony Roper's wonderful play is a nostalgic look back to the days of the communal laundry. “Its illicit gossips and the friendships which formed between its overworked and under-appreciated women; women, dreaming of the "Yankee pictures" and lives not led, who fed the shipyards with pieces and jelly and scrubbed its dirt from their men's overalls.” (Joy Baker 2011)
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I plan to bridge the distance between stage and audience, trying to create the atmosphere without class. On the one hand, as for the exterior space, I plan to blur the boundary between the inner and outside as the spirit of the Steamie is fight class wars and finding beauty in the inexhaustible monotonies. Here, everyone passing by this building, including children and beggar can find the laughter and music according to the interstitial spaces. This idea was inspired by Chinese traditional street art, Pi Ying Xi, which was originally started for people living in rural area. Because this is a show with little stage, many children can only watch it from the gap between adults.
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On the other hand, in the interior space, there wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be traditional seats and stage. People can choose anything on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;stageâ&#x20AC;? as their seat or just standing in the center. I try to encourage people to take part in the play, enjoying laughter and conversation from your friends.
sketch about stage
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seats
main entrance
staff room
stage
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inside vision
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outside vision
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Conclusion In project 1, I had a deeper understanding of the value of aged building for both city and economy, and realize the main point to bridge the past and the present is to find the nature of building under its ruins. It’s not simply about vintage style or going back to last century. At the ending of this research, I can’t help thinking about the necessity of setting up the criterion about evaluation of value in aged building as it’s inevitable to embrace the future and abandon the past. There is only a small part of aged building with history or high artistic value. Most of it are ordinary with personal memories which can’t represent the whole society. The younger generation can’t understand the significance of the Steamie to older generation, leading to the result without respect to it.
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