Snow
Wishing Pond
BABEL’S REFUGE | PROXINITIES
JAN - FEB 2021
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Proximity,
noun. The fact, condition, or position of being near or close by in space; nearness.
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As a fictive site, the Overlook Hotel reveals itself by separate rooms – like pieces of puzzles. This project aims to assemble and reconfigure the surveyed rooms into a whole hotel. Based on that, a ‘refuge’ will be built at a ‘transitional space’ found in the hotel. The observation and understanding of the site are leading concerns of this project.
Developing the Configuration by Collaging
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In the shining, the overlook hotel is created based on two actual hotel – the exterior was taken from the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, while the interior was taken from Ahwahnee Hotel in California. I ex- plored the possibility of my own version of over- look hotel by collaging the plan of the Timberline Lodge, Ahwahnee Hotel, and the plan of each sur- veyed room. The rule is to fit the ‘content’ into the footprint that I have set up, as well as make the whole space reasonable for the original movie plot
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Everyone can watch the film The Shining, and everyone can ‘enter’ the Overlook Hotel, a place filled with the struggle between desire and conscience, with a heavy dose of confusion. I believe that the refuge in the Overlook Hotel should be a place for contemplation of humanity. When one is given the opportunity to make a wish, he instinctively thinks honestly about what he wants and looks deeper into the humanity of himself.
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I picked the meaning of 'transient' to interoperate 'transitional space'. Snow is one of the most interesting qualities of this site. The accumulation of snow in space and the melting of the snow contribute to the 'transition' of space. In the film, the accumulation of snow significantly drives the plot. Further investigation revealed that the roof structure of the overlook hotel is extremely prone to snow accumulation. I decided to make use of this feature to store the snow on the roof and use the difference in temperature between inside and outside to melt the snow to create a wishing pond.
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Tossing a Snowball to Make a Wish
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The tossing of coins into the pond is a common wishing pond tradition. The act of tossing is preserved at the Snow Wishing Pond, but snowballs are used instead of coins. The snowball will melt into the pond water, maintaining the pure view of the pond.
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‘Break’ the Confucius Corridor
Grab a Snow Ball
