A Room Between Two Walls
Designers: Brendan Cole Buchanan Dee & Zahra Asghari
Course: Architecture Vertical Studio
Instructor: Thena Tak
UBC / 2020
Installation
The project arose from a prompt to produce a passing and a pause within a familiar space. Located at a crossroads linking studio spaces and social areas, the installation fluctuates between a duality of positions: open and closed; conspicuous and inconspicuous; passive and disruptive. When unfolded from their resting positions, two movable walls interrupt typical circulation patterns. Where they meet—one at 90°, the other at 180°—an overlapping space is produced, a small room two-sided room. The room is distinguished by opaque rather than translucent treatments to the walls. The program remains undefined, while its presence is denoted simply by a light and switch. The installation builds on Steven Holl’s concept of ‘hinged space’ as initiated at the design of the Cohen’s apartment (1983-1984) and elaborated at the Fukuoka apartment complex (1989-1991), seeking the transformation of everyday spaces through the manipulation of moving walls and built-in furniture. The intersection of doorways and their unusual interactions also recall the thresholds conceived by Luigi Caccia Dominioni in the renovation of Villa San Valerio (1957).
The Lasserre Building, home to UBC SALA’s architecture studios, is a modernist structure composed of concrete slabs and enclosed by glass louvres. In the 3rd floor studio the primary circulation runs along the longitudinal W-E axis that is punctuated by columns. Perpendicular N-S pathways run between columns that have not been closed off by desks, equipment, and mechanical spaces delineated by years of occupancy and renovation. The installation is comprised of simple materials: 2x4s, 2x2s, door hinges, veneer, and fabric. As no permanent alterations could be made to the building, the structure of the installation clamps the wall and is wedged between the floor and ceiling.