Forgotten Interiors
For historic buildings that have fallen into a state of dilapidation, it is my belief that these buildings still have the right to live on within their city. If they can be saved, they should be saved. Whether they are considered historic, or, simply just old, these buildings have helped define the cityscape and history in which they reside. Looking at the site from an interior perspective, this project investigated a range of techniques in response to the site’s forgotten interiors. The aim, to make the building fit for modern purposes once again whilst tangentially retaining the rich history that is housed within its weathered walls.
A radical move, but by considering the form and rhythm of the building’s facade, logical slice points were chosen in order to slice and subsequently fold the facade elements out, and then back on itself whilst maintaining the historic integrity of the building, albeit with a modern interpretation. This then allowed the inserted newly built function rooms to be shifted outward and into the space generated through the slicing and folding of the facade, and in doing so developing a new interior layout through the traces of its outward shift.
What eventuated is a design response that has sought to implement and directly contrast newly built elements from historic ones. The inserted function rooms not only help to provide a new use for the currently redundant building, but they also serve to enhance and intensify the building itself. Through the relationship and dialogue that has developed between the two architectural styles, the two styles although speaking in different languages, seek to complement and enhance the other.
