Malaika Donkor
Interior Architecture and Design
ANIMA
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VAULTING
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LEEDS ART GALLERY
Y STAIRCASE SURVEY
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CONTENTS
The Cambridge Regional Seat of Government, a bunker created to ensure the continuity of government during the Cold War, will be repurposed into an educational institution designated to undergraduate Animatronics studies and a research centre for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for the University of Cambridge. The newly imagined building, Anima, will provide performance spaces to showcase Animatronic and Robotic invention and will be supported by full traditional craft workshops alongside digital studios and laboratories. As a public face to the building, Anima will showcase a collection of Automata, Puppets, Robots and replicas of the best-loved film characters within Animatronic history. Locating the Animatronics undergraduate course alongside new facilities for robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Cambridge University’s will develop a synergy between animatronics and its existing strength within the field of robotics and artificial intelligence research.
ISOLATION is a wearable mask that allows the user to separate/isolate themselves from their surroundings, it is inspired by the misfit character of the RSG and the surrounding residential area. The piece allows the user to create their own bubble of space and to decide how much interaction they wish to have with surrounding environment/people.
Exploration of the journey of a visitor inspired by animatronics and by how animatronic puppets are remotely controlled, thus the building becomes the puppeteer and dictates how visitors circulate the spaces by offering different changes in texture and following the path of light.
Anima sits in close proximity of an award this had to be kept into consideration duri
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d winning housing scheme, ing the design process.
East Elevation
North Elevation
West Elevation
South Elevation
Concept exploring the two main design directions: - Opening the building and creating new and exciting views; - The insertion of a natural path that will act as guide for spaces within the building as well as bringing the exterior surrounding into the interior, thus breaking the boundaries between indoor and outdoor.
The Regional Seat of Government for East Anglia, Region 4, rises off Brooklands Avenue in Cambridge and was a Cold War Bunker supposedly equipped to withstand the effects of atomic blast, radiation penetrat accommodate representatives of the major government department who would have had to control the region in the advent of a nuclear attack. The bunker is a two phase structure consisting of a War Room referred to as the Old Building (1953) and a Regional Seat of Government (RSG), New Building, which was added to the southern faรงade in 1960.
- BROKENThe close connection between natural elements and the chunky invasive concrete nature of the building formed the origin of this concept piece. Particularly the relationship between the Old and the New Building, and how these are commonly referred to as a single building but are in fact completely different in design and structure. However the two buildings do have in common the vigorous vinery that submerges them.
tion and fire, protect and
The main concept driving the proposed design is OPENING the building to the community and natural elements. In its past it has been heavily enclosed and access to it was restricted to security cleared personnel. A decision was taken to contrast this aspect by allowing public visitors restricted and controlled views into private spaces. And by blurring the line between interior and exterior spaces; nature is allowed to insinuate itself in the building in a controlled manner contrarily to what is currently happening to the exterior facades which have been completely taken over by uncultivated vegetation.
LIGHT STUDIES
In order to introduce greenery within the building light study was necessary, this then inspired the language used to “slice� the building open, areas cut out from the model represent the areas that receive natural lighting throughout the whole year.
In detail, the relationship between light and green path in guiding through the spaces.
Conceptual model exploring the possibility of sliding vertical and horizontal planes.
Conceptual model inspired by the strict grid of the building and the idea of gently piercing into it to reveal its hidden beauty.
Design development sketches.
THE INCEPTION One begins to loose themselves within the reality or perhaps fiction found in Metamorphosis. The landscape is formed by an extension of language used withinin the interior and lures visitors in.
APROACH TO ANIMA
ENTRANCE
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BOTANIC PATH
The new proposed route to site connects the building to town via a newly introduced green path, which will provide a new route from Cambridge Rail Station via Cambridge Botanic Gardens to Anima. Parking and disable access
THE SCULPTING Visitors embrace the new character that has been scripted and guided by the exhibition and embody them. Metamorphosis now becomes the puppeteer and pulls the strings of the visitors.
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A finely engineered kinetic installation was chosen to introduce the settings as it summarised effectively the new purpose for ANIMA: art and creativity meet science and engineering.
4. PUPPETRY
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GROUND FLOOR
0 The entrance consists of a �glass slice� that cuts open the building and provides views into workshop aereas.
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The ground floor which hosts the workshops presents raw unfinished steel surfaces, whilst the first floor which hosts the digital media suite has a futuristic approach, polished steel and glass.
THE FINDING the visitors are released from the hold and are now free, they would have now found their real and true selves or embraced a new personality.
1. [IN]ANIMATRONICS...
SECTION THROUGH METAMORPHOSIS...
2. TRANSITION...
view from projecting staircase. As the Map Room once played crucial role within the building it was essential to preserve this aspect. This was achieved by inserting projected images of performing animatronic puppets that can be viewed as one crosses the space via the stairs. The visitor encounters the puppets in all of their different stages. At the entrance, their found in their inANIMAte state, within the exhibition they are seen as bespoke pieces of cutting edge technology and within Transition they become ANIMAted digital puppets.
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FIRST FLOOR
3. CONTROL MECHANISM Automata
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The element of illusion used within puppetry and animatronics has been translated into an architectural language where vertical and horizontal elements the design scheme appear as they are not touching. Thresholds within the exhibition space are hidden sliding doors that can be found following the circula dictated by the building’s materiality, therefore visitors have to find their way through the exhibition by following their tactile senses to find the hidden elem
within ation ments.
Hand made material samples to incorporate within design to create textured surfaces that can be followed to direct circulation.
Vaulting is a proposal to redesign the Tote Building in Catterick Racecourse. The Tot winning of the horses participating to the races in Catterick Race Course; today it is “ been replace by a computer room. Vaulting is a proposal to redesign the Tote Buildin which will gather a collection of stallions sperm ranging from racing to endangered h past of the building by drawing the attention to the window aligned with the finish lin changed as the races were taking place.
te once displayed the odds of “a glorified storeroom� and has ng to the new use of a sperm bank horses. The design celebrates the ne that allowed the odds to be
CATTERICK RACECOURSE Start/Finish Line Tote Building
The main concept driving this project will be centrifugal force and the motion it creates. Centrifuges are used within artificial insemination to increase the concentration of semen. Upon observing motion created by racers on a race track during a racecourse and its resemblance to a centrifuge in operation this seemed the optimal object to draw inspiration from to drive the new design. Particularly I wanted to drive the idea of visitors feeling like the surrounding space is revolving around them.
Concept exploring levels through different heights taking of advantage of height within interior of building.
One of the main features within the building is the central window, which aligns with the finish line. From here the operator in charge of changing the Tote Board would have been able to identify the winner and change the boards accordingly through a push and pull mechanism. Seen the importance of this window it seemed essential for it to form the inspiration for the new design.
Exploring plan inspired by studies of Racecourse.
West Elevation
North Elevation
A choice was then made to combine these pivotal elements. The window was interpreted through a language of circular motion. This drove the idea of interpreting a range of different elements through the language of circular motion, particularly elements that originally inspire stillness.
Ground Floor
Basement Floor Scale 1:50
Bathroom
Laboratory
Private Reisdence
First Floor
Toilets Counselling Room/ Office
Staff Kitchen
Access to Laboratory
Laboratory: allows visitor to be included within the process by being able to assist to it without interfering.
Section AA
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Office
Toughened glass staircase supported by two toughened glass stringers and glass barckets.
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Laboratory
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The main purpose of centrifuge is to separate liquids, with this in mind all elements have been designed to stand separate from each other.
Language used to draw attention to the main feature, the central window.
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Stainless Steel Handrail Ø50mm Stainless Steel Cable Ø10mm
STAIRCASE DETAIL 1:5
Section BB
Bolt connection
Stainless steel cable fixing
3 x 15 mm toughened glass
Sylicone and U.V. hardening glue
LEEDS ART GALLERY STAIRCASE SURVEY Surveying of existing staircase in order to produce accurate technical detailed digital drawings. Not to scale
PLAN
ELEVATION
GENERAL NOTES Mild steel staircase, paint finish Four hollow, square section mild steel columns, paint finish 200x200mm Four round section, mild steel columns (Ø 400mm) Threads: rubber finish sat in a mild steel tray, paint finish (1100 x 380 x 50 mm) Landing dimension 1105 x 1115 mm, outer corner cut to a 45°angle Average riser height: 115mm Stringer: C section, mild steel, paint finish (150 x 90, 10 mm thickness) I beam: mild steel, paint finish (155x150, 10 mm thickness) Bolts: mild steel, paint finish (Ø 14mm)
SECTION AA
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