The Art of What Lays Beneath Matthew Smith Unit 21
Abstract: A retreat for tormented surgeons. Their curiosity and fixation with human anatomy drives them to self experiment. Seeking to explore and understand one’s own body in its’ purest and rawest form - to understand what lies beneath the skin. It’s phenomenology at its finest. The retreat offers refuge, facilitating the urge by teaching and guiding the safe practice of self-operation. Consisting of several buildings, the heart of which houses the teaching facilities and communal spaces for the participants. Each visitor resides in one of the smaller surrounding buildings which will serve as the site for their self-operation.This allows the surgeons to experiment, rest and recover in isolation with care and support from staff when needed. Situated on the outskirts of Ballantrae on the west coast of Scotland, the site uses Sir William Hunter’s Great Windmill Street surgery as a departure point. Removing us from the prying eye of London and up to the rural coast of Scotland, the country that birthed him. The site is dynamic and isolated, sitting on the sand and salt that separates the sea and the mouth of the River Stinchar. High tides and flooding help isolate and protect the surgeons from the surrounding world. The architecture will react and reflect the dynamism of the site, as well as the anatomical world for which it inhabits; mixing soft and hard materials.
ACT. 1
Act 1 Content Page Theme 01- “The Surgeon as Artist”
Theme 02 - “Ballantrae, Scotland - A Testing Ground for Anatomical Architecture”
Theme 03 - “Development of Anatomical Architectural Details”
Theme 04 - “Collection”
Theme 1 The Surgeon as Artist
The surgeon and artist are developed into a single entity, the surgical theatre and life drawing rooms the same site. The spaces distilled into armatures to further the practice. Ground in Soho, Sir William Hunter and the site of his anatomy school on Great Windmill Street play the role of protagonist and provocateur, seeing the world through an anatomical lens and treating the city as a body.
Site Location
The Hunterian Anatomy School
Sir William Hunter by Sir Joshua Reynolds c.1787
The Hunterian Anatomy School, Great Windmill St
The first site, situated on Great Windmill Street in what was once The Hunterian Anatomy School - the leading anatomical school of the time (1769-1839). This was the home and workplace of Sir William Hunte,r a prominent and revolutionary surgeon. The street itself was dissected in two with the arrival of Shaftsbury Avenue.
Present day, Great Windmill St
Sir William Hunter
Sir William Hunter Teaching Anatomy at the RA, Johann Zoffany, c.1770–72
Sir William Hunter (1718-1783) was a pioneering surgeon, teacher and anatomist becoming the Royal Academy of Arts’ first Professor of Anatomy whilst running his own surgical school on Great Windmill Street. At the RA, Hunter would bring in cadavers for dissection inviting students to explain and explore how the human body fits together. This set the foundations for anatomical teaching for years to come. The RA still studies and privileges anatomy and the Ruskin School of Art is the last art school in Europe where fine artists study directly from cadavers. Until Hunters’ schools, the only route to becoming a surgeon was undertaking a lengthy apprenticeship. The Huntarian offered a 7 year course opening up the profession to a wider audience. Up until the Enlightenment, the role of a surgeon was considered below that os a physician, which was considered elite in the medical profession and having gentleman status in society. Surgeons would have practical skills but not the knowledge and understanding of the human body. Surgery belonged to the same association as barbering. Hunter helped develop the surgeons to become on par with physicians breaking away from their association with barbers and to develop its own guild. Becoming accepted into the Royal Society in the later half of the 18th century, elevating the profession to a higher status in society. During his lectures he would dissect bodies in front of his students, passing around body parts for all to familiarise themselves with before allowing students to dissect cadavers themselves which was previously forbidden. Hunter was a vast collectector and had an extensive library and museum. He would spend time making ‘preparations’ (an edited item showing a particular part or system) for the museum and lectures.
Sir William Hunter, left, teaching anatomy drawing, Elias Martin, ca. 1770
Inside the Anatomy School
Private Garden Yard Guest Room
Preparation Room
Bed Room
Theater Above
Study
Museum in Windmill Street, on the last Day - Thomas Rowlandson, 1782
Libray and Museum
Study
Parlor
Front Door
Great Windwill Street
Robert Mylne’s Ground Floor Plan of Great Windmil Street Anatomy School c. 1765-1767
On this first floor plan we can understand the spaces and arrangement of rooms inside the school. The front of the building acts like a house, containing study, parlor etc. Heading towards the back of the building, we come into a large library and museum, a cabinet of curiosities.. Hunter was an avoid collector and his collection would later go on to form the basis of The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, still active to this day. After this, we begin to reach the supporting rooms for the theater (situated on the floor above, to make use of the better light.) Below this we find a study, a bedroom and a preparation room. At the very back of the house we have a yard, private garden and a guest bedroom. The following pages begin to break down examples of these spaces looking for similarities and key components across the series.
The Dissecting Room - Thomas Rowlandson c. 1840
Spatial Examination - Anatomical Theatre
Light Apertures
Rigging
Body
Controlled Illumination
Amphitheatric A lecture at T++he Hunteriana Anatomy School, Great Windmill St Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie, 1839
Light Apertures
Rigging
Body
Amphitheatric
The Anatomical Theatre at Cambridge, Augustus Charles Pugin, 1815
Light Apertures
Rigging
Controlled Illumination Amphitheatric
The old operating theatre at the London Hospital demolished in 1889 FM Harvey
The examination and extraction of key spatial components found across anatomical theatres. Amphitheatric seating and large windows all focus around the operation table and its subject.
Spatial Examination - Dissection Room
Light Apertures
Body
The Dissecting Room, Thomas Rowlandson c. 1840
Light Apertures
Controlled Illumination
Body
The interior of the Department of Anatomy at Cambridge University. Photograph, 1888-1893
Controlled Illumination Rigging
Body
Cooke’s School of Anatomy c. 192-
The examination and extraction of key spatial components found across the dissection room. The focus of the room is divided up individual tables where subjects can be dissected and examined. Lights and rigging are provided for each table to further assist..
Spatial Examination - Life Drawing Room
Rigging
Lighting
Body
Controlled Illumination Amphitheatric
Drawing from Life at the Royal Academy, (Somerset House), Thomas Rowlandson, 1808
Controlled Illumination
Rigging
Body
Amphitheatric
The Royal Academy Of Arts, Johann Zoffany RA, 1773
Controlled Illumination Rigging
Body
Amphitheatric
Life School, Royal Academy, Charles West Cope, 1865
The examination and extraction of key spatial components found across life drawing rooms. Similar to the anatomical theatre with a central focus point around a subject. A main controlled light is used to illuminate the scene with small lamps providing light for drawing and note taking..
Spatial Examination - Illumination Biopsy
The Life Drawing Room
The Dissection Room
The Anatomical Theatre
The illumination of the focal subjects is prominent across all precedents. One example from each spatial precedent type has been examined and had the light dissected from it.
The suturing of spatial precedents depicting the contrast between life and death.
Rig Taxonomy Scene Lamp
Recording Chair
The recorders jib manoeuvres the viewer through desired positions giving access to multiple views of the operation.
A large arching lamp is used to illuminate the entirety of the scene.
Drawing Desk
Operation Table
The drawing desk consisting of an adjustable drawing board, stall and individual lamp allowing the illumination of the board without disrupting the scene.
The operation table is at the centre of the rig. It can be heavily adjusted to aid in different procedure and the viewing of it. Individual spotlights can also be adjusted to compliment it.
The analysis and examination of spatial precedents on the previous pages has led to the development of a rig, embodying the key components from each space. Adaptations of the armatures allow for the expression of multiple users and mediums simultaneously
The Spatial Operations Rig
Spatial armatures supporting the operations of dissecting, drawing and recording.
Self Surgery
Dr Leonid Ivsnovicj Rogsnov removing his own appendicitis whist in Antarctica on expedition in 1961 at the age of 27.
Dr Evan O’Neill Kane performed several self-surgeries. First in 1921 removing his own appendix then 1932 at the age of 70 repairing his own inguinal hernia
Self-surgery is an incredible feat in and of itself. The act of one taking on the role of both surgeon and patient is truly unique. Selfsurgery allows surgeons to the gain perspective of what it is like to be under the knife. Whilst self-surgery has often times been a necessary procedure - such as in times of emergency - the surgeon within this architecture is performing self-surgery as a compassionate way of viewing themselves as the patient. In doing so, they are able to change to the way that surgery is performed, control the anaesthesia used and advance the field of surgery.
Development of Self Surgical Armatures
Initial development for a supportive armature that would allow for a surgeon to dissect their lower arm.
Construction of Self Surgical Armatures
Casting of hand armature
Casting of the forearm armature
The making and casting of individual components, tailored to each surgeon for a secure and ergonomic fit.
Casting of the upper arm armature
Casting the face mask
Self Surgical Armatures
Supporting armatures that allow a surgeon to contort and hold their body in a position for self-operation. Here the surgeon is positioned to dissect their lower left arm.
Theme 2 Ballantrae, Scotland - A testing ground for anatomical architecture
A second site away from Great Windmill Street provided a testing ground to practice and refine ideas and theories. The original aim was to bed the architecture within the coastal landscape of rural West Scotland. A skin graft into the epidermis layers. Whilst ultimately not successful, it allowed for a greater development of the Great Windmill Street site, proving essential for furthering theories and techniques implemented later in the project.
Site Departure
Ballantrae
Ballantrae Bay
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s1 - Great Windmill Street, London
s2 - Ballantrae Estuary, Scotland
The Landscape as Body
Visualizing and interpreting the landscape as a body for the procedural practice of surgery, operating on the landscape to embed the architecture. Treating the landscape as tissue, pushing, pulling, slicing, retracting, inserting. Investigating and provoking a response.
Site Analysis
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Inland water
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The redrawing of the landscape, highlighting key geographical and ecological features of it’s rich anatomy. It’s form constantly changing as meteorological forces act upon it.
Site Overview
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Focal Teaching Site
Support Building
Operational Retreat
Operational Retreat
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Operational Retreat
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Operational Retreat
The retreat is made up of a series of buildings, centering around a focal teaching site where surgeons learn the practice of self-dissection. When not at the teaching site, participants will retreat to their own private building, here they will live and practice dissection on themselves. These private buildings are only accessed during low tide so operations can be planned during high tide to ensure the surgeons are not disturbed.
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3m 4m
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Long Section through main teaching site
Bone-like structures flowing through the architecture
Chamber walls as flexible cell membrane Chambers as cells
Anatomical joints allow the cells to move independently with the landscape
Call out on following page
Penetrating landscape to root architecture
Development of architecture that conveys the materiality of the human body, capturing a sense of weight, texture, viscosity. Allowing forms to fall, drape and fold. It’s multilayered tissue and rich internal spatiality is hidden from us beneath our skin, I wish to showcase it.
Section Detail
External
sl1 sl2 sl3
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Soft internal skin
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jt1 jt1 jt2 External Ground 1st layer
Ground 2nd layer
Ground 3rd layer
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Theme 3 Development of Anatomical Architectural Details
The studying and analysing of human anatomy has allowed for a better understanding and appreciation of how it works. The jointing that facilitates movement of the body is rich and complex, moving through and around multiple planes and axes by combining several types of joints. By implementing this into the architectural detail we can develop them to compliment the way we move and negotiate space.
Synovial Joints
Hinge Joint
Ellipsoid Joint
Synovial joints are designed to facilitate movement of the limbs. There are 6 types found across the body. Pivot joints allow rotational movement, as found in the neck. Hinge joints allow for the body part to be straightened or retracted, as found in the elbow. Ball and socket joints allow a radial movement and provide the most extensive range of motion. An example of this joint is found in the hip. The Saddle joint permits up and down and forward and back motion but not rotational, as found in the thumb. The Plane joint allows for gliding of the bones, found in the feet. The Ellipsoid joint is very similar to the ball and socket but with a lesser extent of movement, especially rotationally. The wrist being an example.
Ball & Socket Joint
Pivot Joint
Saddle Joint
Plane Joint
Planes and axis of movment
Longitudinal axis
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The human body is divided up into three planes; the Sagittal plane (splitting the body into left and right), the Coronal plane (splitting the body into front and back) and the Transversal plane (splitting the body into top and bottom.) Each plane has an axis (a line in which motion occurs) which are orientated 90 degrees from the plane. These are the Coronal axis (related to the sagittal plane), the Sagittal axis (related to the coronal plane) and the Longitudinal axis (related to the transversal plane). The axes identify the translational movement (linear movement in the direction of the axis) and rotational movements (rotation around the axis.) This combination produces 6 degrees of freedom.
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Ball and Socket Joint
The ball and socket operate as multiaxial joints as they allow the limbs to move freely across several axes.
Ball and Socket Joint - Contact Sheet
A responsive production of a ball and socket joint, complete with synovial fluid and ligaments - the model can be articulated to make the parts glide, rotate and pivot.
Ball and Socket Joint
Joint resting
Joint resting
Ball and Socket Joint
Articulation of joint
Articulation of joint
Analysis of joint when resting
Analysis of joint under articulation
Analysis of joint under articulation
Analysis of joint in motion
Anatomical Door
Location of axes and points of movement
Direction of movement
This door incorporates a system of synovial joints working to produce a free, fluid motion path. This combination of joints allows the door to move around several axes, passing through multiple planes. More akin to the human body it moves with it, not against it.
Joint Taxonomy of the Door
Ball and Socket
Hinge Joint
Hinge Joint
Hinge Joint
Ligaments
Detail of joints when closed
Detail of joints when open
The combination of different synovial joints and ligaments affords the door an extensive range of movement. Highlighted above are the variety of joints used.
Anatomical Door
Pos.04
Pos.03
Pos.01
Pos.02
Coronal Plane Coronal Axis Sagital Plane Sagital Axis Transversal Plane Longitudinal Axis
A combination of different synovial joints allows the door to break free of the planes which constrain a ‘standard’ door. The leaf travels through and around all 6 anatomical planes and axes just as the human body.
Theme 4 Collection
Exploring the collection and curation of artifacts. Their relationship with each other guides you to view theories of the subject and their position within the world. Varying in scale and medium they can be originals or representations, physical or theoretical. Supporting each other, they become an instructional set to read the world.
The Cabinet of Curiosities
Musei Wormiani Historia, Ole Worm.1655
Cabinet of curiosities, also known as wunderkammer, cabinets of wonder or wonder-rooms, are collections of objects and artifacts of varying types; often rare and exotic. Popularised in the 16th and 17th Centuries during the European exploration of the world. The term does not necessarily apply to cabinets but to rooms. The curation of the varying objects into categories and taxonomy would reflect the curators view on the world, seeking to understand it and their relationships. The cabinet was a microcosm of the world, the universe in miniature. The more exotic and strange the better.
Dell’Historia Naturale, Ferrante Imperato. 1599
Marcel Duchamp Boîte-en-Valise (Box in a Suitcase)
Marcel Duchamp, Boîte-en-Valise (Box in a Suitcase), 1936 - 1941
Marcel Duchamp’s Boîte-en-Valise (Box in a Suitcase) is a series of miniature reproductions of the artist’s work, displayed in either a box or suitcase depending on which of the 24 editions you’re referring to. The box acts as a portable museum, sliding and unfolding to display miniatures of his work. Duchamp challenged the notion of readymades and reproductions as original art.
Marcel Duchamp, Boîte-en-Valise (Box in a Suitcase), 1936 - 1941
André Malraux - The Musee Imaginaire
André Malraux selecting images for ‘The Imaginary Museum of World Sculpture’ 1947
Andre Marlraux a French art historian and philosopher published a series of books titled The Imaginary Museum of World Sculpture (1952-54.) In the books, he details a new notion of the modern museum. The Musee Imaginaire (‘the Imaginary Museum’ or ‘the Museum Without Walls’) is a collection no physical museum could ever house. It allows dialogue and comparison between work that wouldn’t be possible in the physical world, the collection transcending time and geographical parameters. The collection can expand to incorporate new work without having to worry about boundaries. To aid in the imaginary museum, photographs were used in place of the physical object, giving the work speed and agility - it was no longer rooted to one physical place.
Inside The Mind of the Surgeon
The surgeon constructs a mental Wunderkammer, a cabinet of curiosities, a repository for collected items and artifacts, placeholders of representations for thoughts, ideas, places and objects. Locating these displaced artifacts together; constantly altering their position amongst each other to explore and define new relationships and taxonomies. Artifacts are multi-scaled being made larger or smaller to house them amongst their peers. It transcends the shackles of its physical perception. The room is endless, constantly shifting forms it can never be perceived as finished or complete. It’s space responds to its shifting forms and additions to the collection.
ACT. 2
Act 2 Content Page
Resolution 01 - “The Ritual and the Episodic Passage”
Resolution 02 - “Chambers and the Practice”
Resolution 01
The Ritual and the Episodic Passage
Soho and Great Windmill Street are treated as bodies, sites for dissection and operation. Cutting and retracting the site, revealing the navigation of spaces and ritualistic episodes undertaken to support the practice of self-surgery.
Site Dissection - Soho as The Body
Aerial perspective looking east
Site Dissection - Soho as The Body
Aerial perspective looking north west
Site Dissection - Soho as The Body
Perspective looking north east from the intersection of Great Windmill Street and Shaftesbury Avenue
Site Dissection - Soho as The Body
Perspective looking south down Great Windmill St
Architectural Écorché of the Great Windmill Street Anatomy Studio
Lens: [65mm]
The skin removed from the architecture to reveal internal actions from a raised perspective. [Écorché - a painting or sculpture of a human figure with the skin removed to display the musculature.]
Time: N/A
Retraction of the Facade
Lens: [12mm]
The skin removed from the architecture to reveal internal actions from the front entrance on Great Windmill Street.
Time: N/A
Time Based Storyboard Dissecting Great Windmill Street
Scene 01 [18mm]
09:00 - 09:59
Meeting over Breakfast
Scene 02 [18mm]
10:00 - 11:44
Pre Op Reading
Scene 03 [12mm]
11:45 - 11:46
The ascent to theatre
Scene 04 [28mm]
11:47 - 11:59
Preparation for surgery
Scene 05 [95mm]
12:00 - 15:49
Surgery
Scene 06 [12mm]
15:50 - 15:59
Ritual cleansing
Scene 07 [14mm]
16:00 - 00:00
Reflection and Rehearsing
A sequence of images documenting the surgeon’s chronological movements through Great Windmill Street’s anatomy studio. Exploring the spaces that house key moments of the surgeons day.
[Scene 01] Meetings over Breakfast
Lens: [18mm]
The surgeon meets with colleagues and guests over breakfast. Defining and discussing the day ahead; planning future actions.
Time: 09:00 - 09:59
[Scene 02] Pre-Op Reading
Lens: [18mm]
Ahead of the forthcoming surgery, the surgeon will familiarise themself with the procedure, studying past notes and documentation of the relevant anatomy and techniques.
Time: 10:00 - 11:44
[Scene 03] Ascending to the Theatre
Lens: [12mm]
The surgeon crosses a threshold, ascending the staircase towards the practical spaces where the operating theatre and studio are situated.
Time: 11:45 - 11:46
[Scene 04] Preparation for Surgery
Lens: [28mm]
The surgeon composes themselves for surgery, undertaking the ritual; the routine of getting changed, sanitising themselves and their instruments. The mind and body are focused on the task ahead.
Time: 11:47 - 11:59
[Scene 05] Theatre
Lens: [95mm]
As the focal point of the architecture, the theatre is where all operations and dissections take place. All other spaces and actions are informed by the theatre, to support and facilitate the practice undertaken within.
Time: 12:00 - 15:49
[Scene 06] Ritual Cleansing
Lens: [12mm]
After prolonged periods of cognitive and physical stimulation the surgeon undertakes a ritual of cleansing and decompression, allowing heightened senses to return to their resting state.
Time: 15:50 - 15:59
[Scene 07] Reflection and Rehearsing
Lens: [14mm]
Retreating into the studio, the surgeon reflects and reviews the procedure. Drawing, writing, painting, sculpting and documenting their findings and performance. Capturing the procedure, extending it to the point of transcendence; uniting the world of anatomy with art.
Time: 16:00 - 00:00
Spatial Passages
[01]
[02]
A tryptic revealing the spatial passages within the architecture. Read left to right.
[03]
Surgical Triptych
Pre - instrument inspection
During - theatre entrance
A time based triptych revealing pre, during and post surgery moments. Read left to right.
Post - ritual cleansing
Resolution 02
Chambers and the Practice
The scale shrinks. The chambers and their content become the focus, worlds within themselves. They contain the tools, armatures and instructional sets for the surgeon to now practice on themselves. The site has now shifted to the surgeon.
Studio Chamber
Site of Self-dissection
The Artifacts of the Chamber
Self-surgical Theatre
Instructional Set for the Practice of Self-dissection
The instructional set acts as a support system for the surgical practice. A repository and collection of instruments, artifacts, products of previous operations and rehearsals all aiding the surgeon during the dissection. ranging in scale and mediums.
Self-operation Armatures Located in Theatre
Self-operation Armatures Located in Theatre
Supporting armatures that allow a surgeon to contort and hold their body in a position for self-operation. Here the surgeon is positioned to dissect their lower left arm.
Self-operation Armatures Located in Theatre
Products of the Practice and Rehearsal [01]
Products of the Practice and Rehearsal [02]
Products of the Practice and Rehearsal [03]
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pos.2 retraction
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body as site
preparation and rehearsal surgeons wide gaze s.1
Support System 1/2
Operation 2/2