baths of bishopsgate

Th e Baths of BishopsgateTh omas Cheek

Th is project investigates the notion of the sublime as Arcadia where the sublime imposes strong emotions to create a sense of wonder & awe to the users of the building.

Edmund Burke explains that to produce the sublime, darkness has a greatereff ect on the human mind than light. Other infl uences that are used to create the sublime include; suddenness, grandeur, vastness, sound or no sound, and fear.

Th e sublime should be considered as beauty with the presence of danger. Th e reference to Napoleonic Fort in Dover refers to my experience exploring the network of tunnels hidden away from the public. Th is is an experperiencn e of which I draw feelingsof fear and awe which I believe I have transferred to thhis project. Th e thought that you u can hurt yourself, or even die add real apprehension & unease to the experience of the place. meaninaning whg en you discover sanctuary a user’s experience of the place is amplamplifi eifi d.d

Pirairanesi is conso iderde ed to be onene of the greatest artists at reproducing the sublimeusing thhe subjects oof prisons anand rud ruins.i Th e ruins ons f my chosen site, the ‘Bishopsgate Goodyard’ in Shoredid tch ch have manany similam r characaracterit stics to Piranesi’s etchings. Th ese take in the huge scale of ththe bue ildiings n in ri elation to a person, as well as the devastationof the fi re in 1964 leaving the th site derd elict.

Th e discovevery oy of thhe e ‘I wiish tsh thishis was w a… sa… swwimming g poolpool. (t. (t’onconce e was.)’ stickckerfrom the Memoir i exerciseci causedse aan excittemennt inn meme to rresearch intoo thethe sitsite. Ne. Not being able to gaain ain ccese s to mmost of the site dre drew me to to thethe areas that I was unable to visit, the most prompromineninent beeiing the he doubdouble hle h i height rooms. I believe these rooms have the best pottentient al aat cat captupturing the he ideaideas of the sublime than the rest of the site.e. Th e Th prospect of watewa r in this unundergderground place brought to mind an experience I I had dvisitingn a Haman in in Istatanbulnb .

Th e layout of the Bishophopsgate Baths hs is bis ased on n the arrangemgement ent of ao Turkishkish Baths, or HaHamam. Th is is because I wished to tie my undeunderstanding frg from one II visited in Istanbul.u I also drew infl uence from the drawings of DougDouglas Dardrdenn, ththe receec nt installationo at the RA Sensing Spaces exhibition by Grafton ArchA itecte ts,, asas well as Petert Zumthor’ho s Th erme Vals. Th ese references helped me narrow the proposep d materials s to the use of so tone, concrete and brick. Th e lighting is solely natural andd isi mostostly fl fococuseded from above adding to the comforting weight of the place I asI sociate to the HHamamamam.

Th e proposal as well as contrasting extreme light, and extreme dark alsoa looks ksinto the exttremee temperar turee change. Th e three double height rooms shown in n sesection ionBB vary temperatature fromm extrememe cold ind in theth room on thee left, to extremtre e heh at in ththee room on the right. Water is s pumppumped fed rom the middmid le room oom to tthe side ide rooms anand eid eithther heated or cooled. Once the che ontainern s are fue ll sluice gates te are openned ced ausing waterter torush out and level off . Anyoone ne usingng the facility aty at thiis tis me has as a risrisk ofk o getge ting ddragged under byb the cururrentre adddding ng to a chaance nce of do rownow ing.in Et in Arcadia ego. ‘In n AArcadia deatd h is always prespresent.en ’

VisV itors waalkinlk g thhrough & usinusing thhese roomoms will be fafaced withw a strong range of heightenened sensory experip ences - throthrough h the contrasting n lighht and dark, hot and and coldcold and the presencee of f water. All these will prrovoke feelini gs ogs ff apprehehension, , excicitement, intrigue andand wonder,r, as a via sitor is immersed literally in the ddiff erent uses & deptepthshs of water.

Image: Underwater View of Sluice Gates from inside the Cold Room.

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