Portland Works: Scratching the Surface, Getting Under the Skin

Scratching the Surface, Getting Under the Skin: Portland Works First Year projects by students at the Sheffield University School of Architecture from 2018-2020

From 2018-2020, Year 1 students from the Sheffield School of Architecture visited community spaces around Sheffield to participate in their second studio project, Scratching the Surface, Getting Under the Skin. Working in small groups and over a period of four weeks, the students explored a range of methods by which they could begin to represent the complexities of space. Through observation and recording the space in detail, the students investigated how the same physical environment could be experienced differently by different people.

In the first part of the project, the students developed skills for measuring, recording and presenting space as orthographic drawings by employing drawing conventions.

In the second stage of the project, the students were asked to represent the same space using alternative methods, to get under the skin of the room – to look at it from different perspectives, to unpack its hidden meanings and connections and to find a method to represent this. Students used various techniques ranging across architectural, fine art, filmic, audio and literary.

Over the two years, seven groups of students have visited and surveyed spaces in Portland Works, collating a unique snapshot and record of the inhabitation of the building. Thanks to the generosity of the participating community spaces, this project has served as an introduction to life in the city, outside of the University, for many of the students. We are grateful to Portland Works for their generosity in sharing the space with the us, and look forwards to future collaborations.

Wei Shan Chia, Y1 Teaching Associate

MAKER SPACE

Collage, Hannah Bennett

P2

Left: Hannah Bennett’s collage explored the fluidity between the colours and textures of the inside and outside of the building. In her detail study, she investigated a hatch embedded in the wall to provide secure ventilation to the silvermaking and tool making room.

Below: Orthographic Drawings, Group D1 Right: Photographic Studies of Maker Space, Matthew Ho

Above: Detail Drawing, Hannah Bennett Right: Tsz Lok Ng took inspiration from the mechanisms of the sash windows in the Maker Space to create a series of boxes which open to reveal elements of room

CELLULOID STORE

Orthographic Drawings, Group B3

Above: Will Barker made a “Box for the Future” representing the work hardened tactility of Portland Works.

A film was projected from inside the box onto the ceiling referencing the makeshift skylights in the Celluloid Stores and inviting the viewers to look up and discover the otherwise unseen.

Right: Sean Lam created a collage from 500 photos of himself surveying the Celluloid Store at Portland Works. The change in colour tone from left to right indicated his changing attitude towards the space, from an oppressive cold space, to calm familiarity.

Gianmarco Cannizzo was interested in the history of Portland Works, and the colours captured in the rusty machinery and red bricks which he explored through a series of photographs.

Lucy Fryer researched the history of the celluloid store as the only stand alone building in the Portland Works complex, due to it’s inherent fire risk. Lucy combined her interest in pyrography with an experiment in creating models in different materials such as cardboard (top row), balsa wood (middle row) and pine (bottom row) and the recording the remaining traces

Gianmarco Cannizzo interviewed resident makers of Portland Works about their experiences of working in the historic building in a short film https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=8uMLeCgX5Bw&t=2s

VOLUNTEER‘S ROOM/CELLAR

P2

Room survey illustrated section, Portland Works

Orthographic Drawings, Group C4

Internal Elevation, Group C4

Internal Elevation, Andrea Wu

Internal Elevation, Sarah Chiu

Right: Katherine Langley’s installation invited people to isolate their sense of touch as a response to the constrasting sensory experiences of the current and former uses of Portland Works Far Right: Sarah Chiu made a set of drawings imagining the past uses of the space Below: Esther Yeboah looked at the echoes of history that appeared throughout the site and interpreted this through a series of gas mask models

Right: Roxanne Norris built a model responding to the use of the space as an air raid shelter during WWII Below and Far Right: Wan Hei Ip was intrigued by the amount of tools in the volunteers store room and wanted to portray how objects would move between the store room to the other spaces within Portland Works. She created a scenario based boardgame where players would collect and exchange tools for the different tasks

ROOF UNIT

Orthographic Drawings, Group E5

Above Left: Orthographic Drawings, Group E5, Above Right and Below: Celia Oprea curated a set of photographs focusing on texture and detail revealed by the decay of the building fabric

CELLAR STORAGE SPACE

Current Page: Orthographic and Detail Drawings, Group E5 Facing Page: Areti Petoussi made a large scale, inhabitable model, revealing and imagining the colours and textures in the dark space she surveyed

Hannah Maxey examined the deterioration of the fabric of the corridor space to try and find the vivid and beautiful. She created and photographed a series of decaying cardboard models, to demonstrate a revised perception of beauty

Scratching the surface, getting under the skin

ORD - DRAW - INVESTIGATE - RECREATE

On Sang Choi made a tactile model of the space using plaster, black sand and charcoal

From measurements to ele

space accurately and then

First time trying to do 3D-p to recreate the rough sens

Experiencers are expected hand out with marks on th

We are grateful to the team and residents of Portland Works, who have generously supported the students in allowing access to the building and their work spaces.

Participating Sheffield School of Architecture Students: 2018-2019 Mariam Hesham Abuelsaoud William Barker Hannah Bennett Gianmarco Cannizzo On Sang Aden Choi Ellen Eyre Lucy Fryer Libby Henstridge Matthew Ho Wan-Hei Ip Roisin Kingsbury Sean Sheung Nam Lam Katherine Langley Hannah Maxey

Jonny Mee Tsz Lok Issac Ng Areti Petoussi Thomas Price Natalie Xiaotian Qin Anu Shemar Natalia Staszewska Chun Tan Olga Tuleja Yunxi Wu Esther Yeboah Minglu Yuan Alister Zeraati Yuliang Zhang 2019-2020 Rayan Hamed Said Al Harthy Sadan Ramzi Al Shweikini William Chijoko Sarah Chiu Isabelle Crewe Shun Kwok Tsz Yan Lau Maria Moonenalle Nikita Noronha Roxanne Norris Celia Oprea Alfred Peri Sandra Sabau Zeb Taylor-Breen Sophie Walker Andrea Xueer Wu Tutors Yussur Al-Chokhdar Matthew Bradshaw Isabel Britch Wei Shan Chia Adam Eckworth Daniel Elkington Barbara Griffin-Wright Naomi Kelsall Jen Langfield Steve Martlew Stuart McKenzie Tom Moore Kyle Reid Sheng Song