f ra c ture d [ un ] re a lity: e xplo r ing hidden creat ivit y wi thin plymo ut hs addict s.

[urban agenda document]

Samuel Myat t | 2013/ 2014 D r Sana Mur r ani | ep hem er al wor lds

agenda introduction : who, what and why?

Street life is associated with escapism, whether shopping or just going for a walk, the nature of the street allows you to forget the reality you inhabit for a short period of time . The nature of escape I am analysing is the deconstructive escapism as a response/cause of rough sleeping. Rough sleepers are commonly linked with drink and drug habits which usually start as a response / relief of the sheer boredom experienced on the streets. As the [mental] retreat becomes more like a reality, addiction takes over, and the physical existence within the world that takes the form of a prison. Escapism is the only release that allows someone to feel at home in a reality, however, it is a personal reality, their mental space.

escapism in plymouth.
addiction / abuse / fear
Escape on the streets can take place in many forms. I will explore the nature of escape through narcotics and alcohol exploring why and how it allows them to feel at home within the city. Through this project, I will also analyse the links between distortion, reality and blurring boundaries; the need to escape and the transition between living a normal/mundane life and living in an entirely false, imagined reality that only exists when taking/under the influence of substances. This project will focus around the potential value hidden within the city streets.

Choose a life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers... Choose DSY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushinggame gameshows, shows,stucking sticking junk food into your crushing mouth. Choose rotting away in the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selsh, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself, choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?
'Trainspotting, dir. by Danny Boyle (PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1996). 'Trainspotting, dir. by Danny Boyle (PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1996).

The theoretical background I am pursuing relates to the concept of assimilation in relation to the differences between mental and physical, and the nature of creativity, addiction and escape, exploring the psychoanalytical works of Freud, as well as developing my own theories around the concept of blurred realities. Rough sleepers are, by nature, nomadic. The constant transcient nature of inhabitation never allows them to settle, so assimilation can struggle to take place. With Escapists, the nature of assimilation can be heavily link to fitting into a mental space. This mental space, is created by, and dependent on the action of the inhabitant, with the use of narcotics as a tool to open a new life. In a culture of fluiditiy and flux, the

theoretical background
assimilation / dependency
increased mobility of life today only exacerbates the need to find new mechanisms of belonging Neil Leach, Camouflage. To explore this concept further, I will begin to explore the concept within the realm of distorted reality, overlayed with existence. This nature of overlaying spaces allows me to challenge the nature of blurred space, and explore what different places mean to people. Through distortion, I will begin to explore Creativity with relation to addiction and homelessness and interrogate why people feel the need to resort to narcotics as a measns of escape.

Slavery is freedom. Alone - free - the human being is always defeated.

project 1 recap.
distortion / duality / perception
result, generating income for the rough sleepers. The private side of the street looks for isolated spaces with primordial benefits (such as shelter, warmth etc). These spaces are often found in the hinterlands between buildings, using the excessr benefits of consumption to create an inhabitable space. The distorted difference in perception created by the difference in situation creates an interesting dialogue, allowing me to question things we take forgranted . This difference is something I will continue to analyse and critique through out the project.

George Orwell, 1984 (London: Penguin Publishing, 1950)

The first project served as a cultural viewer to be able to comprehend homelessness and begin to explore what it means to be homeless. We explored the dual nature of the private/public realm through the traditional rough sleeper. This allowed us to challenge the nature of a nomadic existence within the urban context, and begin to define what a counter space is. The rough sleeper must divide their time between metaphorical work and freedom, creating a visible pattern of inhabtiation. Places of publicity and exposure become a neccessity, forcing interaction between the public and as a

The spaces inhabited by drug addicts fill a juxtaposition within society. The spaces are regularly areas of high flow yet almost always low levels of permanent population. The action of injecting allows the user to flee the prison of reality and begin to explore a unique, personal world without pressure or persecution. The action, starting as a release, slowly becomes a prison, an addiction that cannot be escaped from and begins to dominate their life. The nature of assimilation between the prisoner and its cage (in this case, the dependence on the drugs) mean the user slowly begins to rely on the cage as a point of stability within the turbulent reality. This relationship starts to become a frame for reality, and as a

project 2: prague.
exploring the dual life of drug addicts
result, time spent clean/sober begins to become a half life that is merely a transitory point between highs. Whilst the [physical] space may be unwelcoming or ostracising, the [mental] space that comes with being high allows the user to feel safe and becomes a space of contradiction. The dichotomy this creates allow exploration of spaces outside the meta-narrative and creates areas of distortion. The exploration into the nature of distorted spaces, the act of escape and the nature of assimilation to a space are topics I am going to continue to evaluate.

Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.
George Orwell, Why I Write, Gangrel Magazine 1946

addiction
addiction [uh-dik-shuhn] noun the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma. Currently, the methods of dealing with addiction revolve around the Twelve Step System. This is most commonly visible in Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. This process revolves around the surrender of control over alcohol to a higher power, usually replacing a dangerous addiction with a more social acceptable addiction in the form of religion.

research backing.
creativity / addiction / edge
themselves in a state of disarray. The community element of the rehabilitation is successful and, one of the most important aspects to deal with when introducing the addicts back into the community. The replacement of one addiction with another, or substitution, effectively means quitting becomes much more of an ordeal, as longer periods are organised and framed by the presence of a controlling figure (be it a narcotic, alcohol or a spiritual belief). Escapists are, by nature, creative. To explore an alternative reality, they must find ways to either release themselves, through narcotics or alcohol. As a result

This surrendering of power interupts the traditional cycle of grief . The cycle of grief follows a similar set of characteristics, usually loss (in the case of going sober, the loss of an escape and an addiction) followed by shock, denial, anger, bargaining, denial and finally, acceptance. The twelve step program removes the essence of responsibilty on the person, instead shifting blame and not allowing the individual to begin to come to a sense of acceptance, as the cause of the action has been passed on. However, these projects do work around the basis that everyone is equal, and the equality, creates a sense of social cohesion between people in recovery. The social linkage, gives them a framework to build around and organise, rather than relying on

of the current social hierarchy, escapist actions, such as drinking and drug taking are usually forbidden in the public sphere. This effectively creates a place of exclusion. To find a space of inclusion, boundaries must be blurred, and rules bent to fit the needs of the occupant. In the case of the site, the two entrances are highly significant, as they provide completely different context for entry. The creative entrance, used by the escapists, allow them to define their own, personal haven, without the risk of being discovered or disturbed.

The links between homelessness, mental illness and addiction are startling. The so called Homeless Triad exists, linking Mental illness (specifically Bipolar disorder), Addiction and abuse and Homelessness. Addiction The relationship between negative escapism (in the form of substance and alcohol abuse) on the street and addiction is a two way process. Addiction can start before becoming homeless, therefore becoming a cause of the homelessness, however, normally it starts as a response to the situation. In Rough sleepers, around 40% of the population will have an issue or addiction with anything before being taken into

research backing.
homeless triad
The use of narcotics and alcohol then becomes not only an addiction but a self-prescribed medicine, alleviating any issues on the street. Roughly 60% of people with bipolar disorder will have to deal with a level of addiction at some point during their life. Each of the case studies explored later will begin to analyse the links between creativity (an unquantifiable substance) and bipolar disorder/depression and addiction. The link seems to suggest that, people who are the most vulnerable are exposed to things that are likely to

During a study of (rough sleeping) addicts in America, around 80% of people who live on the streets will experiment with a different type of substance to the one they originally started with. The experimentation is usually an attempt to find relief within the system, creating a [sub] reality that can provide some sort of relief from their situation. However, when explored in comparison to mental health, the numbers rise sharply. Around 60% of the rough sleeping population suffer from a mental health issue, ranging from Bipolar disorder (also known as Schizophrenia), Manic depression, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In Homeless Youths in the USA, more than 64% of the people surveyed would be classed as depressed.

cause harm, instead of channeling their actions in a positive direction and attempting to re-integrate into society, they fall into the cracks.

site photos
exploration of materials
The site in itself is a hinterland. It transcends an imposed reality (the streetscape and its current operation as a dumping ground) and the natural escape as the sea. Dominated by the fragments of the two regimes, the activities on site become obscure and obvious at the same time, juxtaposing and overlaying unreality and reality, questioning the nature of perception. The space, has become a refuge in itself as it provides the freedom that is craved and desired by people to allow them to exit the [physical] reality and flee to a [mental] retreat.

An Artist is a man who turns away from reality because he cannot come to terms with a renunciation of instinctual satisfaction which it at rst demands.
Sigmund Freud Creative writing and Daydreaming,

creative case studies : exploring examples of the the link between creativity and addiction

I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.
Edgar Allen Poe

literature and addiction

escapism through narcotics
Each of these authors has dealt with problems as a result of their addiction, however, their strongest work has (arguably) come at a point when they are farthest from safety and isolated within a personal environment as a production of their minds. L-R Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Edgar Allen Poe, Steven King, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jack Kerouac, Ernest Hemmingway.

The link between creativity, narcotics and escapism is highly prevalent in literature. One of the reasons behind this is the cripling lack of structure; the lack of a necessity to do anything all day long and, like escapism on the streets, it is a reaction to boredom. It becomes something that allows safe passage to a safer place.

I've seen the needle, and the damage done, A little part of it in everyone, But every junkie's, like a settin' sun.
Neil Young, Needle and the Damage Done

music and addiction

escapism through narcotics
being rather than physical. The side effect of the addiction to escape is the supposed increase in creativity. The results of this are some of the most influential albums of the last century (The seven highest selling albums of all time all have links with drugs, addiction and escapism.) L-R Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse,
John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Pete Doherty, Keith Moon and Jim Morrison.

With musicians, the need to escape is a response to the fame and environment. Talent emerges at a young age, and as a result, people find that they cannot deal with it. The emotional distress requires something to be able to escape from. The result of fame, popularity and money is that people do not want to see them for the people, but the products. The atmosphere becomes exploitative and as a result, the need to flee comes about, in this case, to a mental state of

The modern artist... is working and expressing an inner world - in other words - expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.
Jackson Pollock

artists and addiction.

creativity and escapism
torment of illness (Basquiat, Van Gogh and Pollock). This normalisation develops into an addiction, as each user becomes assimilated with the relief it brings and the [mental] reality it provides. This transgression, is what begins to drive the gulf between an artist and reality, as they become isolated away from their physical existence and infatuated with the false life within. L-R, Van Gogh, Modigliani, Bacon, Gaugin, Basquiat. Toulouse Lautrec Picasso, Pollock,

Painters, use escape as a tool for creative development and fleeing a reality. The use of narcotics is rarely a response to fame (Basquiat, however, is an exception), but used as either a creative tool (in the case of Picasso) or as a response to the situation (used to deal with illness, depression and other issues). Like others, the effects of alcohol and narcotics are a way of normalising a reality. They provided a safe space without the pressures of everyday life, issues with bullying (Tolouse Lautrec and Modigliani) or escape from the

Artists at their creative peak are often at the edge of human existence. Could we reverse this, and take people who are at the edge, and use creativity as a way of reintroducing and reconnecting them to society?
key direction of analysis, reintegration through creativity.

experimenting with augmented reality : simultaneous real and unreal imagery.

The space is a juxtaposition, to the mainstream narrative it exudes fear

yet the act of inhabitation changes the nature of the space, allowing it to become a place of security

spatial jigsaw #.1

simultaneous real/unreal

Shopping is a form of escape. The visual distortion attempts to

explore the confusing and augmented version of a false reality concealed behind an innocuous faade.

spatial jigsaw #.2

simultaneous real/unreal

Alcohol distorts our perceptions. By exploring the use of alcohol as an

escape tool within a creative workshop, the physical link between escape and creativity is exposed.

spatial jigsaw #.3

simultaneous real/unreal

Natural escape can provide relief from the intensity of the urban

environment. The augmention of space, is a result of the change of pace and reaction to an alien environment.

spatial jigsaw #.4

simultaneous real/unreal

The use of alcohol amongst escapists wrenches the reality away from their mental perception, creating an [un]real

space. The differences between this mental reality and their physical existence is the beginning of addiction, as their inability to assimilate with our reality creates discrepancies.

spatial jigsaw
simultaneous real/unreal

The supermarket is something we aim to escape from and some-

where we can escape with. Reality is distorted with memories assosciated with alcohol as we aim to escape.

spatial jigsaw #.6

simultaneous real/unreal

spatial cognition : challenging the perception of the real and the mental.

Michel Foucault, 'Of Other Spaces : Utopias and Heterotopias', in Rethinking Architecture : A Reader in Cultural Theory, ed. by Neil Leach(New York: Routledge, 1997), p. 330-336

In the mirror, I see myself there where I am not, in an unreal, virtual space that opens up behind the surface; I am over there, there where I am not, a sort of shadow that gives my own visibility to myself, that enables me to see myself there where I am absent:

cognitive mapping.
#1. the mirror.
boundaries between the real (physical) and real (mental). I will explore this as a metaphor for the blurring of boundaries between mental space and physical space. Inhabtitation of space becomes a performance, through the ability to see youself in a space that cannot be inhabited, rather than a reality, resulting in augmented behaviour which blurs the boundaries between what is acceptable. The nature of performance, the simultaneous realities and the distorting/augmenting nature of mirrors are qualities that I will continue to test and explore.

The mirror is a boundary between two worlds; the real and the imagined. The two simultaneous realities are separated by tangibility, with the mirrored [un]reality only perceptable within the confines of the mind. The heterotopic nature of the placeless place distorts the nature of reality, giving space a cinematic feel , blurring the

The dislocation of the site from the surrounding area creates a space of fracture. The space is tortured and unloved, creating an area of juxtaposition when compared to the properties within the context of West Hoe. The areas of high value and importance are inhabited, cared for and pristine whereas the site lies untamed, raw and controlled only by the methods of circulation surrounding the site. As the site is unloved, it becomes a periphery in relation to the mainstream narrative. It becomes a space people can flee to as well as a space they flee from. The evidence (needles, bottles and various cans) points to people using substances to flee the reality. This action, creates a layering of real and

spatial cognition.
#2. fractured space
unreal spaces, almost creating a patchwork of distortion within the site. The collage aims to replicate the shifted and distorted nature of reality in the eyes of an escapist. By fragmenting the site further, the nature of mental and physical space can begin to be translated across for passers by. By trying to reintegrate the space, the site will begin to knit itself back into the urban and social fabric, giving the space a permanent sense of belonging.

Case Nine: The Party Animal I am at a party, and I have been drinking all night. Eventually, not long before dawn, I leave. Upon arriving home, I make my weary way to the kitchen and pass out on the kitchen floor . I lose all conciousness. The extract above begins to discuss the nature of subconcious safety. The journey home becomes a trial and the mind stays alert and aware of the situation, effectively returning to primordial routes of survival. On return to the metaphorical space of safety and seclusion, the mind runs out of energy and stops, signifiying the arrival at a point with fewer obstacles and risks.

spatial cognition
#3. the pier of perception.
We translated this into a pier The street behind the wall becomes the party, a place of overstimulation and a hostile environment. The pier becomes a route through the wilderness of the site, and as the route is unfamiliar, it starts off as a challenge. As the journey continues, the route becomes familiar and the sense of safety returns, providing protection. The [old] ground plane becomes the real and the deck becomes the virtual environment, the difference between is an indication of the extraction and dislocation as the user escapes from reality.

anamorphosis noun 1. a distorted projection or drawing which appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens. The typographic elements reveal themselves slowly, the points do not begin to show their true nature until viewed from a specific point, encouraging the viewer to imagine and explore the posibilities of the meaning before seeing the final point. In using anamorphosis, I will begin to distort a reality for someone, overlaying a [mental] reality into a physical being or place. The augmentation allows the exploration of fragments as they begin to form a

spatial cognition
#4. anamorphic typography
whole. The use of typography encourages the reader to begin to imagine and explore the text for more than the physical value. The act of reading begins to envoke ideas within the imagination, creating a further layer of thought, allowing the person to begin to imagine beyond the possibilities of the site. The site can then be seen as not only a projection but a creation of new creative material. Through testing, I have begun to examine techniques to create the effect however, it is too complex to carry out within the confines of studio.

creativity and escapism

spaces of creativity places of [mental] escape
mapping the links between alcohol and creativity in Plymouth

The mapping begins to explore the links between creative establishments (red) and escapist spaces (blue). The mental sphere of influence (indicated as the orbit around each space) shows that almost all creative spaces are closely linked to the space where people can free themselves fromreality. The release is therefore, as important as a space to produce creatively. The unpredictable nature of creativity brings the concept of escape together as ideas cannot be forced without free time and allowing the mind to wander. [scale 1:10,000]

The Coast Path is a form of release within the urban confines. The disassosciation with the city allows someone to release. The prospect of the cliffs and sea, however, is fleeting when you walk along Hoe Road as you reach the boundary with the site, as fences and signs obscure the view. The path turns away, ignoring and removing the sea as context, losing the coastal nature, effectively drawing you

vistas from site

relation of site to ocean
back into the city. By restoring the relationship with the coast path and the coastline by extending the coast path onwards, there can be an interaction between people and the site, integrating it back into usage within the city. [scale 1:1250]

Vistas from Site

Threshold of subservience Threshold of Innovation.

Peripheral areas, are places from which one ees. If they have no meaning and if they are places of exploitation then they naturally exude a sense of prison.

inverting the streetscape

perception / peripheral / escape.
The street barely tolerates life outside of the meta-narrative, creating a sense of hierarchy, with the hegemonic power assosciated with property able to dictate the rules for. For the drug addict, the action of escape cannot take place in the public realm, as the is intolerable. The site however, is pure in the sense that it does not exude any of these qualities. It offers a space without surveillence, without fear and oppression and allows the user to escape to a space of fantasy. [scale 1:500]

K. Nawratek, City as a Political Idea (University of Plymouth Press: Plymouth, 2011) p.84

To the escapist, the streetscape enforces the torture of reality. The prison of existence without the ability to escape to a [mental] space of security.

Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality

Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation.

Galaxies forming along a Filament, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spiders Web by Toms Saraeno is an installation piece. Saraeno uses black elastic cord to create an interactive framework to explore. The high contrast between the open, bright and often overpowering white space and the delicate strands creates a sense of wonder, as the fragility is exacerbated, particularly as you walk past them, as they vibrate when nudged, reflecting the human importance of inhabitation. The vast structure juxtaposes against the delicacy of each strand, knot and join, as the structure is delicately crafted and organised, whilst occupying a huge space within the gallery. The nodes reach out to all parts of the room,

Galaxies forming along Droplets

distortion/framing/disorientation
creating a space of interaction, where the viewer is encouraged to be active rather than passive within the space. Each viewer creates a journey through the layers of the space creating an exploration and a highly personal voyage. The cord creates fragments of space within the whole. Each space manipulates rather than encourages, you to explore alternative routes through the space, opening up new perspectives and exposing a completely new, unique understanding of the space.

The Steilneset Memorial in Norway by Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgoise acts as a point of rememberance for the trial of witches. The Zumthor memorial uses a skeletal frame with tensile structure to create a temporal realm within the harsh landscape. exposing the brittleness of By using tensile frabric and natrual materials, The use of delicate materials within a harsh landscape makes the space feel fragile and preserved. The space reacts with the weather, with the structure reacting with the wind to gently sway, exuding a sense of delicacy. The project is contained within the skeletal frame, which provides anchorage within reality, or the

Steilneset Memorial
suspension / isolation / fragility
environment. the community that lives there. By using lights within the space, Zumthor aims to create a sense of lost community through the act of lights in each window, creating a ghost-like space within the structure . Zumthors extension to the project creates a sense of fragility within the harsh landscape. The main space within the memorial is raised above the sacred ground plane. By disassosciating the new ground from the old, there is a clear demarkation of the interior and exterior.

In Orbit | Tomas Saraeno To create the sense of flying, Saraeno uses the height of the interior space as a frame to warp space with. By using a stretched mesh over the courtyard, people get to experience places they cannot physicall inhabit without the help of the temporary aid. When people move across the mesh, the thickness of the cord cannot be seen. The appearance of walking, literally, on thin air creates the weightlessness within the space. People appear to float above the ground. This weightlessness, combined with the purity of the space around the outside, creates a new, pure space. Distortion of the physical takes place with the mirrors as well, augmenting and

In Orbit.
distortion/framing/disorientation
distorting the views of reality. The duplication within an intangible space merges real into mental, allowing the space to become almost cinematic. For the spectator outside of the environment, the space creates an unreal drama, taking place in a context that should not exist. By blurring boundaries and appearing to break the law of gravity, the activities become much more theatrical, as people begin to explore actions that would not be possible within the confines of reality. It becomes as much a mental space as a physical place.

Solar Bell | Tomas Saraeno The general themes within Saraenos work tend to be based around exploring impossibly situations and seeing how people react to them. The Solar Bell, works around the premise of creating an [un]real (through the use of mirrors) environent and place, within a space (in this case, the sky) that cannot physically be occupied. By using the mirror as the utopian, Saraeno creates a reflection of the spaces below in a perfect way, intangible and unreachable for the majority whilst overlaying and collaging into the reality we percieve. This overlaying of reality and unreality, creates a patchwork of distortion, as the

The Solar Bell.

augmentation/ephemeral/stratied
struggle to distinguish between what is real and what is not begins to distort your mind. The percieved breaking of gravity, like In Orbit, creates an impossibility that has been imagined and created . The ephemeral nature of inhabitation within the structure creates a vision of reality, again playing with cinematic themes. The structure is so lightweight that, as it takes off and becomes independent of the reality below, it flickers, selecting and changing the reality below to a random generation of reality.

design development : exploring the techniques discussed in the form of an installation

The development was started as a response to the mapping exercises. Through analysing routes and entry into the site, as well as the directions it faced, I began to explore methods of changing the use of the site within the context of the street.

spatial development
testing through overlaying
The site revolves around two entrances [subservient and creative], creating a overlap within the space. As the subservient entrance requires permission, this means the user of the site is under scrutiny and control, allowing them no freedom. The creative entrance allows people to come and go as they please, giving them independence and a retreat within the city, allowing the to escape the persecuting nature of the streetscape.

Through the analysis of social occupation and the actions that take place, I tested viewpoints ,focusing away from the site and onto a point of natural escape, the sea. The coast path, as shown before, explores the edge of the land, but as it reaches the site in West Hoe, it turns away and begins to shun the site.

spatial development
testing through overlaying [1:200]
This shunning , combined with a lack of action within the site has led to the site becoming a disused space, allowing a counter narrative to begin to develop and grow (in the form of alcohol and drug abuse as a form of escape). The fractured link between the coast path and the coast whilst people who use the site as a point of escape tend to be more inwardly focussed, organising themselves around the activity, using the drink as a frame for existence, that takes them away from their current predicament.

Coast Path Extension The proposal consists of an extension to the coastal path. The pathway will act as a blurring agent, breaking down the physical boundary between the site and the external context.

spatial development
testing through overlaying [1:300]
By considering the removal of the Sea wall, the site has less of a sudden break with the external context. By removing an object of orientation, the space suddenly feels endless, allowing unlimited potential. The public are also drawn into the site, without disturbing the delicate balance of the escapism that takes place. The creative entrance is publicised less, allowing the space to begin to thrive.

By mapping viewpoints on the site from various places (the submissive site entrance; the creative site entrance), the drop down; the proposed proposition entrance and the Millbay Pier, I began to consider a structure that could appear to be a flat surface to the exterior, yet augment a journey within.

spatial development
testing through overlaying [1:300]
The walkway continues the journey along the coast path, continuing the natural route along the boundary, whilst straddling between the exterior of physical reality and the interior of pure escape. This fragmentation of the border will attempt to integrate the site back into public view and consciousness, whilst not revealing it in its entirety.

Section A:A

To increase the sense of fragmentation and disassosciation, I will remove the ability to interact with the site, unless viewing from within the gallery space. As the users of the coastal path explore the walkway, it will begin to reveal fragments of the space hidden behind the screens. This will be exposed through distorted realities, such as the use of a distorting mirror and anamorphic typography. The anamorphic typography will begin to hint that the site can begin to produce valuable culture, using the stories and experiences of the escapists within. Through will be specific, the site, the use of mirrors, the space reflected internally, allowing chosen glimpses of areas of whilst allowing the escapists

spatial development
testing through overlaying [1:300]
within to explore the walkway without feeling watched. The walkway will be stepped, with each direction change creating a new layer. Each change in level, along with a lack of visual plane to orientate, will aim to disorientate and confuse, fragmenting and framing a space. The Coast line will be highlighted, as the focus of the walkway will be below, exposing the roughness of the coastline, and the brutality of the treatment.

spatial development
testing through overlaying [scale 1:200] To further fragment the site boundary I exploded the walkway, and began to reconstruct a mental picture of the space. The excessive fragmentation begins to break apart reality, creating an [un]real space within the context of the site. I will continue to test this proposal through the use of sections and models.

process model #1 Through the use of tensile materials , lightweight mesh and a frame, the essence of transparency, and ethereality is exacerbated. This percieved lightness begins to exude a sense of fragility , making the walkway feel delicate . The height of each of the panels works to distort the horizons within the space. The inability to percieve where you are within the site context allows you to become lost whilst drawing the eyes to areas of space that we often ignore (in this case, the ground plane and the sky above the user). The use of a mesh floor removes any visual obstructions from the view. The vertical abstractions remove the context, whereas the floor plane

spatial comprehension
testing through models
re-connects you with the main essence of the coast path, reducing the distance between the two. The width of the space also begins to explore the essence of isolation within a space. The inability to reach out and physically touch the surfaces of distortion (mirrors, anamorphic graphics), forces the spatial explorer to imagine, creating a mental dimension within the space, distorting behaviour and creating a parrallel universe, existing only in a virtual sense.

Smaller scale examination - 1:100 By diverting perspectives, the field of view is shortened, compressed and the space begins to become a maze-like experience for the walkers. Each change in space is accompanied with a change in level. The clean break between eachfragment of space clearly breaks the route down into a selection of fragments, rather than one route through the chaotic site. By raising the plinth above the ground plane, the height of the walkway is exaggerated. The percieved distance to the sea from within the site is augmented and, by [re]fragmenting the site, it begins to develop a closer relationship with the sea.

spatial comprehension
testing through models
The use of a lighterweight skin making the facade increaes the sinuous nature of the walkway, with the frame beginning to take on a skeltal form. The juxtaposition between the strength of the structure and the delicacy of the build up begins to reflect the fragility of the site and the situation. Through strategic mirrors and augmentation, the walkway will provide the site with a lookout. The duality of the mirror allows the walkers to explore the site through fleeting glimpses, whilst also suggesting the site could produce cultural/creative writing in the future.

1:50 Walkway development By removing the link between the walls and the walkway, the route appears to become removed from the screens. This disconnection creates a sense of fluidity, of independence and of lightness. The suspension of the walkways allow it to become re-active, rather than passive. The walkway sways with movement, augmenting the space as a result of the actions of each person you journey through the space. The walkway assumes a natural hierarchy within the landscape. By raising above the space, it becomes an intangible object, a utopian image for the site to begin to aspire towards, whilst also not intruding into the delicate

spatial comprehension
testing through models
nature of the space within the site. The hierarchy can also be translated as sympathy for the site, almost protecting the site from intrusions and allowing it to maintain its nature as a temple of pure escape.

design proposal : testing augmentation in spatial conditions

Books are a narcotic

Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

Here is a man isolated from human cares yet walled in from communication with external reality and trapped in the paranoid universe of his mind.
Prof. Phillip Barker; Dr. Gary Rolfe, Addiction and Creativty : from laudunum to recreational drugs.

conclusion : what will this result in nally?

interior perspective
augmented spatial qualities
Through exploring the interior space i have done what? How does this show my idea of augmented and layered space?

The Sectional study begins to explore the relationship between the walkway, the site and the coastline. The walk way links in the surrounding context, with the fixings out of sight of the walkers, giving the walkway a mysterious, suspended feel. Through anamorphic typography, the space will be augmented, altered and changed, with the viewpoints only being visible from certain points of

detailed section
1:100 Sectional Exploration
perspective., challenging peoples perceptions of the site.

key relationship
1:400 Context Plan
The project has become an extension to the coast Path. The protection it provides to the site allows the site to focus on the area within, becoming a space of pure escape. The Viewpoints of perception use differing techniques built up during the journey through the space, culminating in creative ideas, quotes with spaces reserved for the site. The idea that, as the site grows, it can produce is key to the continuation of this project.

key relationship
1:100 Section
Sectional Detail of the extension of the coast path - How does this work within the site confines?

exterior perspective
augmented spatial qualities
Through exploring the interior space i have done what? How does this show my idea of augmented and layered space?