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A Portal to the Sky

BABEL’S PORTAL | IDENTITIES

SEP - DEC 2020

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identity,
noun. The characteristics determining who or what a person is.

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This project is tasked to design a portal, which is located at a specific point of the Overlook Hotel and leads to babel. The site, the Overlook Hotel, is observed from a micro perspective as separate rooms at this stage. In this project, the design of the portal explores how materiality and detail can form spatial experience.

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The journey started with an object - a second-hand film camera.

 

Leather, metal, film, velvet, I was intrigued by the materiality and quality of this item. And also, the beauty of the accurate and precise projection working process.

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The portal makes use of vertical transition feeling of the exiting elevator.

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

The journey of this project started with one object - a second-hand film camera. Leather, metal, film, velvet...... I was intrigued by the materiality and quality of this item. 
And also, the beauty of the accurate and precise projection working process. 

Spatial Strategy | Lowest, Purest

 

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

The rooms in the overlook hotel are quite ironic. The Upstairs space, beautiful, splendid but nurtures evil; while the downstairs, dirty menial but protect justice.

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Spatial Strategy | Lowest, Purest

 

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

Spatial Strategy | Lowest, Purest

 

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

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The portal makes use of vertical transition feeling of the exiting elevator.

The elevator is changed into a two-way elevator. One side connects to the machine room, the other to the portal. The portal is placed at a newly-extended underground space adding to the original elevator shaft.

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The portal makes use of vertical transition feeling of the exiting elevator.

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

The journey of this project started with one object - a second-hand film camera. Leather, metal, film, velvet...... I was intrigued by the materiality and quality of this item. 
And also, the beauty of the accurate and precise projection working process. 

Spatial Strategy | Lowest, Purest

 

Compared to the luxurious upstairs area, the downstairs is dirty and small. It is, nonetheless, the domain of justice. By using mirror, I would like to introduce the highest, purest, truly beautiful space to this lowest area – a portal to the sky, at the lowest point of the Overlook Hotel..

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There is a light at the gap between the lift and the portal entrance to alert people to the gap.

Inspired by the velvet used to protect the film at the very edge of the film box, the entrance to the portal is narrow. When someone walks through it he will be wrapped in soft velvet, The feeling of moving from the rough outer world (machine room) into the soft inner space is enhanced.

The viewing point at the end of the walkway gives a unique experience of looking DOWN at the sky.

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The material experience varies from the outer space to the inner space. The outer shell reflects and echos the roughness of the machine room, while the inner space is soft and delicate, just like the delicate film protected by the shell of the camera.

The material experience varies from the outer space to the inner space.the outer shell reflects and echos the roughness of the machine room, while the inner space is soft and delicate, just like the delicate film protected by the shell of the camera.

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Step by step, going down to the LOWEST sky.

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1:5 Model | Detail Study

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Interpreting how the camera cross uses metal, leather and plastic into the design of stair steps. In the inner soft spaces, the edges of the steps are covered by curved plastic to prevent stumbling on sharp edges.

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