PRECEPTION OF BUNKER

from Apply for MArch Urban Design, UCL

by BAO Shixian

Why Nanjing？

Devices of Body Sensing in War Buildings

Individual Academic Work Feb 2022 / Graduation Project

Course ID：29010220

Located in Nanjing, China

Supervisor: LU Andong

Email: alu@nju.edu.cn

Tel: +86 25 8359 3020

Exhibited in The Memorial Hall Of The Victims In Nanjing Massacre By Japanese Invanders (Participated in the whole process of curation)

Video of the Installation in the Exhibtition Hall Youtube: https://youtu.be/vmT9VtQqa5Q

Nanjing, as one of the four cities martyred during World War II, suffered brutal war destruction. As a wartime city, the city still has many ruins of defense fortifications, such as abandoned blockhouses and ruined walls. They are the "witnesses" of the battle of Nanjing, carrying little-known memories of the war. In times of peace, they are scattered among the trees, far from the public life, buried in the grass and soil, and melted into the mountain.

As the most widely deployed war fortifications during the Anti-Japanese War, bunkers played an important role in the defense of Nanjing.

The project is an attempt to bring back memories of the war through the physical experience inside the installation. This leads people to reflect on the oppression of the human body by war.

As one of the important battlefields during the Battle of Nanjing, a large number of military blockhouses have been preserved on the Purple Mountain.A total of 75 of blockhouses exist and can be divided into six types, each with its own function, character and location

Bunker Ruins on the Zijin Mountain Postures

Distribution of Bunkers

Perceptions in Bunkers

The interaction between the different Spaces in the bunker and the soldiers' bodies produced different perceptual experiences, which were important carriers of war memories. These senses include body posture, hearing, vision, and so on. Through the abstraction of these perceptions, we can better feel the destruction of human body caused by war.

Acoustic Wave

The voice of war is an important embodiment of the oppression war brings to people.

Categories of Bunkers

The categories of bunkers include: semi-underground bunkers, reconnaissance bunkers, bunkers with eaves, bunkers without eaves, round bunkers, and semi-round bunkers.

Shooting Holes

The categories of bunkers include: semi-underground bunkers, reconnaissance bunkers, bunkers with eaves, bunkers without eaves, round bunkers, and semi-round bunkers.

The Translation

Posture, sound waves, vision and materials are modernized to help people experience rich sensory stimulation in a limited space. Through lightweight, modern translation, body perception can be condensed and combined.

Integrated Perceptions Installation (Constructed)

The Exhibition

The installation is located in the center of the pavilion, where the semi-enclosed space becomes a focal area for gathering and experiencing the entire exhibition.

The device combines a variety of motion states inside the bunker, including stoop marching and climbing upward. Using the scale data inside the bunker, the soldiers' physical experience inside the bunker was reconstructed to a true scale. At the same time, accompanied by the sounds and vibrations of the war and the sounds of the mountains, the process of transition from the oppression of war to the calm of nature is created.

Shooting Hole Simulator

The device simulates the visual perception of the firing port in the bunker, and the soldiers' visual experience of observing the world from inside the bunker is restored through the height of the window, the proportion of the window, the jagged edge and other elements.

Megaphone Installation

The installation simulates the way soldiers in a bunker transmit information through a loudspeaker. The sound of the loudspeaker changes from gunfire to birdsong. Different heights of the loudspeaker are suitable for people of different ages, and the effect of war on human perception is restored from the perspective of hearing. The different height of the handset provides the possibility of experience for different age groups.

Sound Vibrating Devices

Hidden inside the device are several acoustic vibration devices, which come from the roar of guns and the song of birds in the forest. Through sound conduction and vibration, visitors can experience the installation in multiple dimensions.

Reconnaissance Installation

The installation mimics the posture of soldiers looking up at enemy aircraft from inside a bunker, with a screen mounted on top that loops back images of the sky during battle, allowing viewers to recreate the posture of the body looking up at the scout.

Timeline Construction

The device is made of precast channel steel and steel plate, which is easy to disassemble and install. The prefabricated materials and structure greatly shortened the project time, while the steel frame provided sufficient stability for the installation.

STEP 7： Install circuit system and debug equipments.

STEP 2：Confirm the location of the installation and assemble the three prefabricated frames together.

The whole installation process was completed in one week, including frame construction, skin installation, routing perforation, device testing and other processes. Multithreading at the same time, greatly save the cost and time.