[75 Year] Transition.

A permanent site-specific commission for The London School of Tropical Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: it aimed to create a new model for interior architecture, underlining the performativity of site. The research enquiry was pursued through more than 12 months' engagement with architects, builders, staff, students and visitors: how to make the research imperative visible, in the material fabrication itself, where performative interaction with users is as vital as the physical properties of the site? The site, a corridor, has become the main entry point to the new North Courtyard building, and bridges a gap of 75 years in its history (1928-2003). Research activities involved included archival research and interviews with current building users to create an environment able to articulate the School's history. I sought to create a conversation piece between the old and the new building, and to pay homage to the School's history, while experimenting with contemporary materials and techniques. The installation is located in an atmospheric lower ground floor corridor where there are original, formally exterior, walls dating back to 1928. It encloses the spectator in a dark subterranean world surrounded by pipes, fans, ducts and the sound of machinery from The Boiler House. The cleaned bricks reveal subtle colouration, and sprayed aluminium squares are added to reflect these and to refer to colours relevant to some of the research work of the School - e.g. jaundice, blue tongue fever. An original oak door has been re-installed to form the actual entrance to the new building; former exterior walls have now become interior, and the Lower Ground Floor's inner workings have been exposed. My collaborations with the School, the architect and building contractors created a physical space triggering users' actions, in an exchange with the site as Actor/activator.