Studio 2: Unreal Engine

Architecture + Sustainable Design Core 2 Design Studio Instructor: Jason Lim

THE SINISTER LIBRARY Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Synopsis

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Google it. For most of us, that has become our immediate, almost subconscious, first step towards finding an answer to any question. As Eric Schimidt and Jared Cohen from Google state, we are beneficiaries of acollective, and relatively recent, endeavour to share human knowledge through virtual means. Every two days, we create more information than we did from the dawn of civilisation until 2003, and we are doing so at an ever-increasing rate.

The emergence of the internet for public use in the 1990s was a catalyst for this explosive growth.

“Everybook, magazine, newspaper, journal, song, film and play ever written... Every email in history ... search or product review ... text message ever sent, every chat ... every post ... every comment” is now stored in server farms and potentially retrievable. Moreover, in the last decade, tech firms began exploiting this information glut, developing AI that can learn from massive datasets to create new content alongside us.

Considering how information is digitised, proliferates, and is readily accessed today, the library— commonly understood as a physical and finite repository of mostly printed content—appears antiquated, if not obsolete. Yet looking back at the history of this architectural typology, the concept of a library has proved to be surprisingly elastic, often evolving in response to technological and societal developments. Contemporary interpretations of the library have become more expansive. Libraries now integrate digital and physical media seamlessly in their collections and offer increasingly diverse programs catering to a wider community. Adopting the position that libraries serve an important role in our societies and will continue to be relevant, this studio will investigate further ways in which the concept of a library may evolve and be manifested in future.

The studio will begin with an exercise in world-building. Each student must author a fictional narrative thatsets up a context for their project. Students will subsequently develop an architectural proposal for an underground library specific to the fictional world established. The proposal should be informed by an understanding of issues relating to this typology and a speculative reading of opportunities offered by still-developing virtual technologies. Students should articulate a critical stance regarding the role of libraries and investigate novel ways of blending virtually and physically situated experiences through their proposals.

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Exe 1: Fictional Library

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Collage Interpretation of The Strange Library, Haruki Murakami

The Strange Library changed the perception of a library. It flipped this virtuous space into something rather dark that involved human psychology.

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Research: Stanford Prison Experiment

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Upon reading The Strange Library, it evoked the need to research on human experiments and the psychology behind it.

This also led to the key concept of the library, a sinister place that allows for unethical experiments to occur.

College students became prisoners or guards in a simulated prison environment Intended to measure the effect of role-playing, labeling, and social expectations on behavior over a period of two weeks.

However, mistreatment of prisoners escalated so alarmingly that the principal investigator terminated the experiment after only six days.

Prisoners staged a rebellion on the second day Within the first four days, three prisoners had become so traumatized that they were released. Over the course of the experiment, some of the guards became cruel and tyrannical, while a number of the prisoners became depressed and disoriented.

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Narrative

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Libraries have always been known to be a virtuous space. In 2075, libraries are being privatised.

Blinded by the greed for money, some companies have turned to finding ways in setting up secret experiments underground. They have also subtly designed a process that would gain the human test subjects at their own will, unknowingly.

Libraries are the prime target because the general public views it as a virtuous space and it is a considerably trusted area that is known to benefit people on almost all types of information.

Here, these patrons are now identified as test subjects who are part of certain unethical experiments run by the said companies. They are not necessarily aware of the repercussions and stake.

In order to gain volunteers for these experiments, patrons will be offered monetary incentives that are attractive. These serve as a form of luring device into getting them enticed to the rooms that transports them virtually to the experiments and will only be released until they are done, with duration varying across each experiments.

These rooms that host such sinister activities are tucked away in hidden corners with limited access to other members of the public.

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Sinister Library Collage

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Initial Exploration 1: Levelling using Dante’s Inferno

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Upon associating the underground with a darker energy, Dante’s Inferno was chosen as a form of reference for the deeds that occur underground.

The deeper you are, the bigger your sins. This was intended to be translated into the labaratory at the bottom of the library (hellish place) where the unethical practices occur.

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Initial Exploration 1: Levelling using Dante’s Inferno

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Reference to Dante’s Inferno with association to a hellish place underground

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Exe 2: Collections

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

A supermarket’s strategic placement

Every aspect of a store’s layout—from the produce display near the entrance to the dairy case in the back to the candy at the register—is designed to stimulate shopping serendipity.

Staples are located at the back

Why is it arranged this way?

This strategic placement into luring shoppers is a classic twist to what these virtuous supermarkets are deemed as. Shoppers more often than not are easily susceptible into falling for these traps by buying more than they need.

Product requiring a lot of thoughts and comparison

Impulse buys

Good smells + view

Turn waiting time at counter into buying time.

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Initial Exploration 2: Circulation

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

The multiple levels derived from Dante’s Inferno was too complex. To tone it down while keeping the sinister aspect of it, the circulation of the supermarket was taken as reference.

This luring space that masks itself as a virtuous space has a good take on the circulation this library could possibly take.

When patrons first enter the library, they are greeted by general content. Those who are interested in more ambiguous content such as psychological related experiments are allowed to the next tier of this library.

These patrons are identified to be potential experimental subjects that may be lured in to the experimental labs and have trouble coming out of it.

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Initial Exploration 2: Circulation

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

With the intention to create tiers that were connected via tunnels that lured patrons, this form was created.

The main takeaway from this was to have a form of explicit passage way to the underground labs.

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Initial Exploration 2: Circulation

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Texture applied was to also create a form of natural cave experience.

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Benchmark 4: Site Model

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Tier 1: General content above ground

Ground

Tier 2: Ambiguous content underground

Tier 3: Tunnels used to lure experimental subjects to the labs for unethical practices

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Benchmark 4: Site Model

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Further Exploration: Tama Art University, Toyo Ito

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Further Exploration: Tama Art University, Toyo Ito

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Further Exploration: Cave-like restaurant, Junya Ishigami

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Final Building: Derivation of concept

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Studying the Tama Art University and Cave-like Restaurant drove the idea of incorporating arches into the design to blend it in with the underground concept.

These arches also create a form of passageway that can double up as mazelike pathways for circulation in the library.

To increase the intensity of the maze, the arches have been inverted to give a fresh take on how arches usually work.

Using these simple panels carved with inverted arches at different corners, hidden spaces were able to be created for storage of these unethical experimental rooms.

The hidden corners were designed to be away from the bulk of patrons in the central space and main areas that are filled with bookshelves from top to bottom.

Inverted arches used to carve into panels

Panels are all individually crafted so that it does not produce similar paths, while ensuring there are sufficient dead ends purposefully created for hidden spaces

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Final Building: Derivation of main form

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

A simple base shape was first used to start inspiration

With the intension to blend in with the cave-like undergroundtrait, the circle was deformed to some extent

Intersecting lines were added to create small and large spaces

To create hidden spaces, the blue lines were made as a form of partition against the other spaces

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Final Building: Axonometric View

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Panels were extruded and the inverted arches were carved carefully, ensuring that no panel is identical

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Final Building: Axonometric View

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Stairs were then added as the final step to create this simple yet maze like structure. These strairs are crucial in carrying the circulation of the space as it directs the user to the hidden rooms as well as main library halls.

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Final Building: Axonometric View

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Bookshelves located throughout panels of the building

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Final Building: Axonometric View

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Hidden spaces created from partitions

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Final Building Section Drawing

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

0.00 m

-4.00 m

-8.00 m

-12.00 m

-16.00 m

-20.00 m

-24.00 m

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Final Building Plan

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

-12.00 m cut

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Unreal Engine

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Advertisements with monetary incentives to garner volunteers

The Sinister Library, Stanford Advertisement

Original Stanford Advertisement

The Sinister Library, Daycare Advertisement

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Main Library Hall

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Main Library Hall

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Hidden Passageway

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

The hidden passageway will always provide multiple options for the user to take next

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Advertisement with monetary incentive for Stanford Prison experiment. If keen, patron will proceed to the designated area.

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Upon entering the room, user will be transported into the Virtual Space where the experiment begins

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Unreal Engine Snippet of Stanford Prison Experiment Recreation

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

In the VR space, user will experience the simulation of being pressured/ fearing the loud noises and gestures.

This data is then collected and used by reserachers for profit.

Prisoner being forced to do push-ups

Prisoner being punched

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Advertisement for free daycare to attract parents into allowing their children to be used as potential test subjects.

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Unreal Engine Renders

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

Upon entering the room, user will be transported into the Virtual Space where the experiment begins

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Unreal Engine Snippet of Daycare Experiment on Emotions

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

In the VR space, user will experience the simulation of being happy/ sad when put through certain scenarios.

This data is then collected and used by reserachers for profit.

Positive environment with a lot of attention given to the child

Negative environment with minimal attention to the child

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Exe 4: Storyboard (Initial narrative)

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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Writing Exercise: Memory of the Library

The Sinister Library, Nasrin Fotohi Ardekani

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