SLICE.TOOL
1
2
TYPOLOGY
CASE STUDY
ARCHIVAL
FINDING
MASTERCLASS
INVESTIGATION
MAPPING TOOL USING
FINDING
OLD CINEMA
3
SITE
WATT BROTHERS
SECTION MODEL
VISUALS
SECTION ELEVATION RENDER
ANIMATION
5
4
DESIGN
CONCEPT
CASE STUDY
PLAN
MATERIAL BOARD
After repeated visits, I discovered many different colours on Sauchiehall Street on the buildings' facades and with numerous kinds of merchant activities on this street and various colours on their signboard.
Therefore, I was thinking of making a tool like a filter I can wear on my mobile phone to take photos and eliminate other details to keep only buildings’ colours.
I created a wearable tool for my mobile phone from a paper box and incorporated two loops, allowing me to slip my hand through for improved grip and handling. On the other hand, I attached a semi-transparent plastic film on the outer surface, forming a vague filter that preserves external colours in photographs while minimising extraneous details.
Through the tool, I discovered that when applying the vague filter, the building's material gets erased, leaving only its colour, and its shape becomes almost unrecognizable. Surprisingly, the image's colour changes significantly depending on the weather conditions when I took the picture. Additionally, buildings with bright colours appear grey or even muddy, which was an unexpected but fascinating result. Overall, these findings have helped me better understand the colour of Sauchiehall Street's building.
- 460 Sauchiehall Street.
On 4/10, 15:00 rainy day
On 11/10, 15:00 sunny day On 11/10, 21:00 sunny day
- 235-265 Sauchiehall Street.
On 4/10, 15:00 rainy day On 11/10, 15:00 sunny day On 11/10, 21:00 sunny day
- 197 Sauchiehall Street.
On 4/10, 15:00 rainy day
On 11/10, 15:00 sunny day
On 11/10, 21:00 sunny day
- 164-146 Sauchiehall Street.
On 4/10, 15:00 rainy day On 11/10, 15:00 sunny day On 11/10, 21:00 sunny day
- 119 Sauchiehall Street. (site building)
On 31/10, 15:00 cloudy day
On 30/10, 15:00 sunny day
On /30, 21:00 sunny day
I used the tool to record the buildings’ colours on the street and observed that four blocks had the most colourful facades.
This is the drawing I recorded at night. When the evening lights lighted the night, it caused a completely different picture than the day. It can show that there were more purple and blue colours in this drawing.
•At night view
While using my tool to investigate, I recorded that the colour of buildings' facades significantly differs during day and night. Moreover, I discovered that the first half of Sauchiehall Street is bustling in the daytime, while the second half is relatively less lively. However, the situation reverses at night, with the second half of the street having numerous restaurants and bars, in contrast to the quieter daytime scene.
Therefore, after conducting a thorough investigation into the current distribution of shop categories on the street, the survey results, as depicted in the chart below, demonstrate that the first half of the street is primarily dominated by general retail stores. In contrast, as I mentioned previously, the second half is predominantly occupied by restaurants and bars.
SECOND HALF
FIRST HALF
During the investigation, I searched the background of Sauchiehall Street. I noticed numerous cinemas and theatres on this street around the late 19th century to the early 20th century. During its heyday, Glasgow boasted up to 130 theatres, making it the city with the most theatres in the entire United Kingdom. It even housed both the largest and smallest theatres in all of Europe. At that time, cinema-going became a shared activity across various social classes, especially among the working class. Moreover, many cinemas offered a touch of luxury and glamour through the movies they showed as well as in their modern auditoriums with warm, comfortable seating and fashionable decor. For the working classes a weekend visit to the cinema was an escape from the trials of city life that could be enjoyed by the whole family. 1 However, with the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent widespread adoption of television post-war, the number of people attending cinemas dramatically declined. Many theatres in Glasgow could not withstand significant financial losses, leading to their closure one after another.
1 Glasgow Life https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/family-history/stories-and-blogsfrom-the-mitchell/times-past-blogs/glasgows-cinemas-times-past
This is a museum where all the exhibits consist of donations from individuals who have experienced a failed relationship. The museum serves as a place to formally say goodbye to someone, something, or a period that has ended. As a result, people can confront the emotional challenges of a past relationship by displaying objects or memories they once felt essential. It is also another way to share their stories with the public.
In this museum, since the items came to this place, the objects that belonged to someone became exhibits stored in this building. Hence, this space is no ordinary house; the displays made this building an archive.
One of my favourite stories is “A Hundred Swedish Crowns.”
This small bill is the only thing left after a relationship and a trip to Stockholm. 'He told me: “Keep it; you’re going to use it the next time you come and see me…” But there was no next time.' 1
1 Derek (2011) The Museum Of Broken Relationships, Wandering Earl. Available at: https://www. wanderingearl.com/the-museum-of-broken-relationships/ (Accessed: 23 December 2023).
This project was designed by a Swiss architect. To protect the remains of two Roman buildings, the architect was appointed to construct a case to preserve the ancient ruins and organise it into a place so that the public could come and visit this historical site.
This architectural case is one of my favourite projects for me. The architect created an unusual and clever entrance to guide people into this space as if passing back to ancient Rome's time. In there, 'time' is frozen in the historical flow so that people can have a chance to realise the life of old Romans, which means time is stored in this 'archive.'
1 Inside Timeless Architecture: Peter Zumthor’s Shelter for Roman Ruins in Chur, Switzerland | Architectural Photography Almanac (no date). Available at: https://apalmanac.com/architecture/ inside-timeless-architecture-peter-zumthors-shelter-for-roman-ruins-in-chur-switzerland-10769 (Accessed: 23 December 2023).
In this book, through 25 different stories and perspectives, the exploration of how content related to memory and emotional aspects is recorded and preserved by people in various ways to create an archive.
One example is coffins, which made me realise that even a small object can become an archive because it holds information about a person's body, belongings, and more. This is discussed in the content of the eleventh chapter written by Annemarie Matzken. The chapter introduces the method of 'drawers' as a means of collection and utilises contemporary art to communicate memories of various individuals from East Germany. It also references 'Memory is not only what can be told, but also what needs to be understood and used.' and signifies 'Memory is not just told, it is literally made palpable and pass on.'
From the content of this book, I've learned that expressing the intangible concept of 'memory' can be done through various methods. Still, the primary approach should involve representing that memory through tangible objects. This way, it can be better preserved and shared.
SPOT-Taipei is a historic building located in Taipei, Taiwan, formerly serving as the U.S. Consulate. After government restoration efforts, this historical structure has been revitalized into a hub for Taiwan's film culture industry, aiming to promote the development of Taiwanese cinema.
This multi-function place contains a small cinema, exhibition spaces, a café, a bookstore, and more. To that people get to know the movie culture, movies are played daily. During specific themed weeks, selected films are presented to allow audiences to revisit and gain deeper insights into various cinematic creations.
The mind map below contains the words I associated with "archival" and the possible items that can be stored.
document
After a series of studies, an archival space is a location designed to store, document something or even simply be a repository that holds valuable materials related to a person, a place or a culture.
The first case is a place storing people's heartbroken memories by sharing their belongings. The second one is design architecture to preserve historical ruins and frozen time. The third reference categories twenty-five different stories or cases to express the notion of an archive, especially about memory and history issues. The final case focuses on the revival of a cinema space in a historic building. Looking deeply into all these four case studies, I figured out that they have the same common point: making intangible things, like memories, tangible through physical objects so that people could keep them as an archive.
As a result, a historically physical object representing Sauchiehall Street should be taken as the archive to recall peoples' memories of the lost era, and the answer, 'the old cinema', might be a feasible method. Therefore, by searching for this period of gradually forgotten historical memory (intangible), using the cinema as the central axis of the space (tangible), and then collecting different movies and posters, etc.(object), and combining with the cafe and bar to make this multi-functional area open to people to gather and conversation, day or night, so that this place can become more stories and memories of the archives.
Watt Brothers is located at the corner of Sauchiehall St. and Hope St. This building was constructed in 1914 by Alec S Heathcote of Manchester, the architect who designed the imposing corner building, and in 1915, the shop was opened.
Through below historical photos and timeline, I discovered that the entrance of Watt Brothers experienced various changes over the years. I find this aspect quite fascinating, and it sparks my imagination about how the entrance could transform by incorporating elements from a cinema.
In the previous survey, I mentioned that the entrance to the base and its display windows would change over time, so in this design, I wanted to focus on the entrance and gallery design of the building.
Through the sectional modelling, I found that the display window is completely isolated from the interior activities. Still, it also creates different spatial layers, which is also the point I want to focus on in this design.
'Film is a reflection of society, both present and past. I think the film and its innovations sometimes have to catch up to society but sometimes it leads society too.' Tom Sherak1
I was inspired by Tom Sherak, the former President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and his interview on the power of film to capture and recreate a particular era. With this in mind, I designed a space using a movie projector as a key to create a feeling of stepping back in time. The design incorporates materials and colours generally found in early cinema spaces and Watt Brothers stores. The use of metal sheets also increases reflection and creates a sense of expansion inside the space.
https://thoughteconomics.com/the-role-of-film-in-society/
Lightbox, Neon sign, Light bulb
It is commonly understood that giant light boxes are often associated with cinemas, hotels or entertainment places. In the early days of cinema, this element was even a verified existence at the entrances to the theatres. Using different light strips, colours, shapes, and so on to attract people's attention, especially at night, colourful lights for the dark night to form a strong contrast also add more vitality and thus can attract more customers to visit.
Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/f33/3917707197/
First of all, these two cases are the first concept I would like to explore in this design: how to form different layers in a corridor space.
In the left case, two materials, namely tile and concrete, have been used to enhance the contrast of materials in the space and create a more pronounced sense of extension. This approach also serves to better differentiate the functionality of the space.
On the right-hand side, the corridor plays a semi-outdoor character, using staggered brick layers to create three spatial levels: indoor, semi-outdoor, and outdoor. The use of red bricks and white doors is designed to form a contrast in colour and enhance the sense of visual level.
The second part of the project is to use the corridor to enclose a guiding route like a time tunnel. By lengthening the corridor space, I wanted to create different spatial experiences through the sensory stimulation of having to pass through a path from the entrance to the indoor space first.
The case on the left uses curves to deepen the space's layers and sense of extension, reminding me of using relatively natural curves in modelling materials to construct a guiding spatial approach.
As in many sci-fi movies, the part on the right uses light bands to make the space more abstract and surrealistic. Light change is often used to achieve visual solid stimulation when travelling through time and space. Light guidance, Time tunnel
Based on my previous research, I am interested in examining how the entrance to a movie archive can be made feasible or modified when the site is situated in a historical building.
There are two key aspects that I want to explore. Firstly, I want to create the layers of the entrance path so that the interior and exterior spaces can have some interactions and connections. Secondly, I think the entrance corridor needs to be extended to create a sensory experience that transports visitors back in time as if it were a time tunnel before entering the indoor space, which will enhance the spatial experience and make a more immersive journey. Therefore, my intervention will be focused on the entrance and the corridor space.
PROJECTION SCREEN
SEATING AREA SCREEN
EXHIBITION AREA
TERRAZZO FLOOR
CINEMA CHAIR
DECORATIVE MOULDING
Using film projection as a barrier to obstruct the view partially.
CORRIDOR at night
during the day
EXTERIOR TO INTERIOR
Scan the code to watch a short animation!
1. Palladini, G. and Pustianaz, M. (2017) Lexicon for an affective archive. Bristol : Intellect.
2. Peter, B. (1996) 100 years of Glasgow’s amazing cinemas. Edinburgh: Polygon.
3. Uluoglu, B. (2006) Design and cinema : form follows film. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.
4. Menon, R. (2022) Fragments of Glasgow. EatSleepArchitecture.
THANK YOU