Monograph. Samantha Li
Hello.
Nice to meet you. My name is Samantha. My area of interest in the study of Interior Architecture & Design lies in the concept of perception and ways of seeing, in particular how it affects feelings and valuation of object and space. I am fascinated in exploring how interiors interact with the public urban atmosphere, and the relationship that develops. How these objects are perceived, valued and experienced when placed from a conventional space to an unfamiliar territory, initiate questions: what exactly is a public and private space? How can the two opposing spaces create a relationship and be manipulated through design, experimentation and writing? The monograph shifts from places that I have visited and the experiences gained, from interior and architectural projects to more conceptual small scale experiments. Projects are explored through various methods of communication including graphic design, interactive models, research writing and videos. My monograph is the start to my career in research and interest to design, interior architecture and urban interiors. My aim is to further my knowledge in this field and produce more innovative and experimental designs.
Places.
MARGATE, KENT, UNITED KINGDOM 3 - 22 23 - 28
Winter Gardens: Step by step guide to Place Making The Positive Void GREENHITHE, KENT, UNITED KINGDOM
31 - 32
Why Urban Interior: Bluewater is not Becoming a Place? CITY OF LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
35 - 38
The Barbican Centre Roundabout
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The Activist Interior CANTERBURY, KENT, UNITED KINGDOM
57 - 66
The Inhabitable Object
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The Interior Object
75 - 78
The Language of Vision
79 - 82
The Performative Device
83 - 86
The Fictional Machine
87 - 90
The House
Welcome to Marg
gate.
Winter Gardens: Step by step guide to Place Making Winter Gardens: Step by step guide to Place Making is based on the research of two communities that were found prominant in the coastal town of Margate. By applying the purpose of cross-programming to the inactive zones of Winter Gardens, the building behaves as a hub for multiple programmes. The permanent communities; four of Margate’s main discussion groups, provide an opportunity to gather public and create public realm and interaction. With the transient community, bus passengers arriving into Winter Gardens offers an opportunity to manipulate dwell and waiting time at the bus stop. However, in accordance to Marc Augé’s theory, bus stops could be considered as ‘non-place’. The focus is on the attention of the destination and not the bus stop. They are relied on memory to exist in, despite the contradiction of these spaces being the focus of regeneration to enhance culture and society. Therefore, challenging the concept of ‘non-place’ versus ‘place’ was heavily explored in this project. The design was inspired by seaside ride, dodgems, to adapt and capture the humour that exists in fairgrounds. The cross-programming is based on eight micro architecture devices that form their own network within Winter Gardens and contribute to existing networks in Margate to enhance interaction, involvement and regeneration. Within the interiors of Winter Gardens, the intention is for the users to question the transitition from the public and private in terms of the use of materiality, and whether they are in an urban condition set within the interiors.
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Exterior View
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Collage & sketch of rear facade
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Urban Interior concept
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Analysis + sketch
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Overall model
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1 x Stainless steel grid
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1 x Galvanised steel mesh
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1 x Steel conductive floor
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1 x Facade structure
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7 x LED Linear light panels
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8 x Large movable woven glass facade panels
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1 x Concrete ramp
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18 x Circular light panels
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9 x Small fixed woven glass facade panels
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10 x LED diagonal light panels
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8 x Micro architecture
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Kit of parts
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Axonometric of whole scheme 1:1250
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Mid-level plan 1:2000
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Rear Elevation 1:200
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Sectional Elevation A - A 1:200
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Sectional Elevation B - B 1:200
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Movable facade detail 1:20
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Canopy cladding with services
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Steel box section 150 x 200mm
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Steel CHS facade frame
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Triple glazing in aluminium-wood frame
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Sketch of programmes
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Internal view
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Illluminated shelter
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Garden space
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Reading room
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Pop-up shop
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Discussion + meeting space
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Café shelter
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DIY Café Micro Architecture Diagram
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Mechanism + construction
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DIY CafĂŠ Micro Architecture prototype
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The Positive Void Inspired by the discussions with residents of Arlington House in Margate, The Positive Void created an opportunity for people to interact and become more aware of the fight for sustainable and positive redevelopment for Arlington House and Margate. The general perception that Arlington House, and to some extent Margate itself is portrayed as negative space. Negative space is produced whenever an object, shape or form is created. It is the space unoccupied by these creations. This idea that was explored in The Positive Void. The suggestion of a person departing from the cast emphasises how people, and in this sense, the local residents of Margate, are affected by decisions. The Positive Void reflects the feeling of tension and anxiety that was experienced whilst speaking to the residents. The cast was further developed into a solid concrete object, to accentuate the idea that negative space can be converted into positive space.
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Surface drawing
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Negative space
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Continuous line
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Construction of cast
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The Positive Void on site
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Concrete prototype
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The Positive Void at Arlington House
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Welcome to Gree
enhithe.
Why Urban Interior: Bluewater is not Becoming a Place?
In daily life, we may not realise it but interior public space play a large role in urban life and are a basic component of the contemporary city. Public interiors such as shopping malls, airports, train stations, motorway services define an increasingly familiar experience of being ‘within’ a city. These spaces have become subject of debate and criticism, in particular in determining whether they offer a genuine urban experience or, being ‘interiors’, they do not qualify for that as a genuine urban experience which can only be had outside. Furthermore, the authenticity of the experience they offer comes into question as these large interior spaces are characterised as Marc Augé’s anthropology of ‘non-place’. ‘Why Urban Interior: Bluewater is not Becoming a Place?’ explores the relationship between interiors and urban design, significantly, how the relationship is explained and defined through methods of communication. The thesis investigates past and present debates in regards to public space labelled as ‘urban interiors’. The world’s largest building, New Century Global Centre (2013) in Chengdu, China, raises questions on authenticity and identity. The initial research progressed onto the study of Charles Rice’s article, ‘The Atmosphere of Interior Urbanism: OMA at IIT’ (2008) and Deyan Sudjic’s ‘The airport as a city square’ (1992). Both theorist defines comparable characteristics of an urban interior by analysing university campus, McCormick Tribune Campus Centre (2003), and Heathrow Airport (1946). The same technique of definition and comparison was used to analyse the urban interior characteristics of Kent’s popular shopping centre, Bluewater Shopping Centre. Furthermore, urban interior becomes more refined when compared to other form of spaces. The thesis challenges the term urban interior alongside architecture theory and film; Kim Dovey Becoming Places: Urbanism/Architecture/Identity/Power (2010), Augé’s Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity (2nd ed. 2008), Paul Sutcliff ‘dwell time’ (s.d.), Mark Pimlott ‘Prototypes for the continuous interior’ (2007), Peter Weir The Truman Show (1998) Delusion and Rem Koolhaas Generic City (1995) and Junkspace (2002). By analysing spatial diagrams, studying various theory and film it comprise and justifies ‘Why Urban Interior: Bluewater is not Becoming a Place?’ 31
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Continuous Interior: Bluewater Shopping Centre
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Welcome to Lond
don.
The Barbican Centre Roundabout By observing and recording human activity in multi-arts and conference venue The Barbican Centre, it was evident that a congestion of people after finishing an event would allocate and gather themselves under the circular orange suspended light. The Barbican Centre Roundabout derived from analysing the existing entry and exit routes in accordance to this meeting point. The proposed intervention is situated on the Ground Floor level, therefore this created an opportunity to conceptually think about the way facilities are connected on different levels to this centre point. The mass and congestion of people produced a moment to manipulate the space through a conceptual intervention of glass routes that provided a direct route from one facility to another, whilst still maintaining the central point as a pivot and a hub as a meeting and social space. By creating routes and the concept of a motorway, urbanising the interior, just like a motorway, it would alter and force the way people would walk and hence control the congestion and build up of people under the suspended lighting.
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The Barbican Centre Roundabout Diagram
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Interior view
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Movement analysis
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Axonometric and materiality of routes
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BAR/CAFE TO INFORMATION
THEATRE LEFT TO THEATRE
BAR/CAFE TO ENTRANCE
RECEPTION TO HALL THEATRE
CAR PARK TO CAR PARK
BAR TO TOILETS
LOUNGE BAR TO FOUNTAIN ROOM
THEATRE RIGHT TO CAR PARK
SHOP TO LOUNGE BAR
HALL CIRCLE TO BARBICAN FOOD HALL
PROPOSED MATERIALS
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The Activist Interior The Activist Interior deals with the design of an artist-in-residence studio and exhibition at the Crescent House, Golden Lane Estate, Goswell Road, London. The project creates a complex spatial proposition which recognises and negotiates a series of thresholds between: private and public, inside and outside, open and close. The design creates a customisable and transformable space which contains: a working studio area, an area to exhibit work and basic facilities for eating and sleeping. The design proposal accommodates changeable patterns of use where various kinds of art practices need specific requirements in space, light conditions and equipment. Therefore the project focuses on art practices of painting, sculpture, video, performance and graphic design. The Activist Interior intends to establish a controlled connection with interior and architecture for the artist-in-residence and the general public, allowing the site to integrate and become “a bit of city” (Penoyre, 2012). The project questions, ‘What is Public Space?’, therefore explores usual interior programmes and activities that artists tend to associate within an interior, such as a studio space, and questions what would happen when these programmes are placed outside due to the design of a series of devices. The design of the artist-in-residence gives the possibility to subdivide the differences of interior and architecture when necessary. Objects are fragmented and taken apart to create form and functionality within and outside of the site. This will in effect create appropriate uses and influences in context, which are dependant on the user’s activities.
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Golden Lane Estate City Analysis
Around Golden Lane Estate Houses in Golden Lane Estate Public Spaces Public Spaces joining to Goswell Road
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‘What is Public Space?’ diagram
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Goswell Road overall model
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Main design moves
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Interior walls, front, rear and
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basement facades removed c
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Facade and objects in use
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Ground Floor Plan 1:200
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Basement Floor Plan 1:200
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Facade transformable element detail 1:5
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Metal rail support
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Screw
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50mm caster wheel
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LR55 Rail: 165mm wide, 35mm curve
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Elastometric bonding grout
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LR55 Trough: 380mm wide
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Ground road base
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Facade + components diagram
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Front elevation 1:100
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Sectional Elevation A - A 1:50
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Exterior views
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Interior view
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Welcome to Cant
terbury.
The Inhabitable Object The Inhabitable Object derived from the concept of viewing and appreciation. Working in a group of four, we paid close attention towards the idea of how light changes viewing, in particular the north corner of Canterbury Cathedral Cloister. In this specific area, lighting was restricted, so we were interested in how light differs when we are forced to look at an area in a different way. The Inhabitable Object was built with linear square boxes, inspired by the sandstone paving and the stone work in the Cloister. The final 1:1 cardboard structure is shaped in a curved structure that is welcoming for the public to interact with the object. The viewing boxes are numbered and lettered for organisation and diagram purposes, which was a tool to investigate how the boxes changed from the start of the day to the evening. In certain boxes, various different frames, such as wide angle and pinhole were designed within to appreciate the finer details of Canterbury Cathedral Cloister. The cross detail on each box provided a mechanism to lock the boxes securely in place, and also encourages and prompts the public to interact and move the pieces around to suit their height, eye level and specific focus through a particular frame. The final exhibition was held in collaboration with Canterbury Cathedral, in the Canterbury Cathedral cloister on 22 November 2012. The exhibition was featured in Febuary 2013 Architects’ Journal ‘UCA students collaborate with Canterbury Cathedral on exhibition space’ article.
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Cloister collage
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Perception, appreciation + pinhole diagram
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Sectional Elevation 1:100
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View of cathedral through frame
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Floor plan 1:50
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Section elevation 1:50
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Viewing box diagrams
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The Inhabitable Object in use
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The Interior Object In The Interior Object, relationships between light and shade, foreground and background, sharp and soft focus was explored. The final piece was an object that fits a specific dimension of 600mm x 600mm x 600mm. The design of The Interior Object incorporated the holding of a personal item; my glasses, a bedside table object; a hair clip and my favourite book; The Amazing Spider-Man. By overlapping the three items to produce 2D collages, it was interesting to see the lenses from the glasses made the focus of the images distorted. This inspired me to use the concept of ways of seeing, in terms of vision. The manifesto was based on an interactive piece that would allow users to take a pair of glasses and try them on. Each glasses would have different messages, blurred, close up, or further away. The Interior Object was derived from the idea of indistinct vision, by sketching my bedside table with no glasses on and through a series of surface drawings, a geometric form was constructed. By experimenting with the scale and the way we see The Interior Object, it could be a lamp, or even a large tent. Somewhat similar to comic book stories and imagination, the conclusion is down to the viewer to decide on what The Interior Object is.
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Collage
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Comic book design journal
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CHOSEN UCA STUDENT HAS ASSIGNED TO USE THEIR CREATIVE POWER TO CREATE A FURNITURE PIECE, ONLY USING THREE SPECIALIST ITEMS... ... STUDENT HAS SELECTED THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN AS THEIR FAVOURITE BOOK AS IT PROVIDES VISUAL IMAGINATION INTO A DIFFERENT DIMENSION.
PRESCRIPTION GLASSES HAS BEEN SELECTED AS A PERSONAL ITEM. STUDENT HAS BEEN WEARING GLASSES SINCE A VERY EARLY AGE... ... STUDENT EXPERIENCES ASTIGMATISM IN HER LEFT EYE AND HAS HEAVILY RELIED ON WEARING THEM ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
STUDENT HAS SELECTED A HAIRPIN AS AN ITEM THAT IS ALWAYS ON HER BEDSIDE TABLE. IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS USED DAILY ALTHOUGH IT IS OFTEN MYSTERIOUSLY LOST. 69
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FROM A DISTANCE OF FROMSHE A DISTANCE OF 30CM, DRAWS HER 30CM, SHE DRAWS HER BEDSIDE TABLE WITHOUT BEDSIDE TABLE HER GLASSES ON.WITHOUT SHE USES HER GLASSES PENCILS ON. SHE TO USES COLOURING COLOURING PENCILS TO SHOW THE BLURRINESS SHOW THE BLURRINESS AND THE DIFFERENCE IN AND THE COLOUR DIFFERENCE INTENSITY, ANDIN TO INTENSITY, COLOUR AND TO SHOW THE DIFFERENT SHOWSHAPES. THE DIFFERENT SHAPES.
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The Interior Object tent
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The Interior Object lamp
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The Language of Vision “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” From the site analysis and architectural promenade of Canterbury, it was shown that Canterbury Castle is much further away from the town centre. In The Language of Vision, Canterbury Castle conceptually joins Facebook as a lonely castle, so he can then become friends with Canterbury Cathedral, Dane John Gardens, London Eye etc, and expand and network with other places across the world. In order for the networking to work, a labyrinth is installed. The labyrinth is formed from the well, which historically had a purpose for fetching water. Now, as a tourist site, it’s been neglected. Due to the lack of respect, Canterbury Castle decides to take it’s revenge on the human population, to explode and form the labyrinth starting from the well. As the labyrinth has taken over, humans have no objection but to explore the area more in a curious manner, inside and outside the labyrinth. It will take people off their predictable paths and make them more aware of areas in Canterbury and eventually the world. The project challenges the idea of utopia and dystopia, which was inspired by films such as Inception, The Book of Eli, and architecture group Superstudio.
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Concept model
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Canterbury Castle timeline
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The Performative Device The design of interiors no longer seeks to engage with an abstraction of the body but looks at how the body can perform as an extension of a space and the space as an extension of the body’s performance (rather than as a representation of it). As such, space ceases to be a mere container for the body and becomes an element of an event/ performance that includes the body. The Performative Device explored the idea of designing a ‘bodyextension’ to support certain movement through space for a particular client (performer). Diagrammatic drawings and recordings of dancers and performers shows that, they as individuals expose themselves to the public. They move freely and use as much provided space as they need. Taking Edward T. Hall’s personal space theory, working in a group of four, we created our device in a form of a sphere, to enclose and restrict the performer’s body movements. The idea of being able to move elements of the device was to provide an opportunity to escape for the performer. The performance showed the dancer trying to escape from his bubble of personal space. The device focused on restricting the upper torso of the body, to limit his arm and shoulder movement, in order to experiment and see how the performer would react to losing his freedom to move. We designed the device with an emotional factor. The performer was briefed to feel comfortable and reassured in his own space however to also express anxiety, whilst trying to escape, as if his personal space was being invaded. The final performance was held at University of Kent, Jarman Building on 17 January 2012, in collaboration with the performers of Showscope and Fisico.
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Diagrammatic observation
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Device in use and in performance
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The Fictional Machine The Fictional Machine focuses on ways in which space can be defined in relation to the body through mechanical devices that ‘temper’ it and/or condition the ways in which it is used. Working in a pair, we created two fictional machines, Flux, which is a handheld machine and Flux II an upgraded, suspended version. The concept of the machines was revolved around ‘mental space’. The name Flux is in reference to its’ definition, ‘constant flowing changes’. When the mood is detected, the machine will change the users mood to the extreme opposite using lights from the bulbs. For example, if the user was sad, the machine would make them extremely happy so that the user would start to enthusiastically jump up and down in space. Certain moods will change movements of how human interacts with space. The initial first small fictional machine, Flux, contained a control panel that resembled a technical heart. Therefore, as the concept was mental space, my section was drawn creatively using internal organs as the machine. The idea that organs represents a significant part of us that keeps humans going as machines, that are also personal and cannot be seen links back to the concept of mentality. By producing a stop motion video, we was able to communicate the instant change in mood and represent the new behaviour and relationship in regards to how the user differs with their new mood in using the space.
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Flux II Section
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Flux II in use
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The House Working in a group of four, we designed and created a sustainable house suited for an individual. The House contains significant design features, in terms of sustainable systems, open space and windows. To achieve the sustainability, our aim was to introduce architectural features to enhance insulation and natural lighting. The House has a rainwater water system, that collects rainwater, filtered, and becomes reusable. Timber cladding was introduced as a natural insulator, as well as for its design aesthetic. Sliding doors and clerestory windows provided natural lighting whilst maximising space. Clerestory windows also help solar heat gain. The main feature of The House model includes a working solar panel system, where electrical wires were removed and soldered back into the model to provide lighting.
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Window view of model
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Exterior and interior views of model
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See you soon.