Last term my research looked at how smoke inhalation and exhalation relates both to the body and the environment. This term, I divided the project into four separate categories - ideas, art, medical, and environment. I used this topic to develop construction designs – using ideas relating to the space of the human body. This includes the active rhythm of breathing in and out as well as the changing volume and shape of the lungs. At the same time, I have been considering how smoke combines with and has an affect on the environment, pollution, climate and sunlight. Being a part of every living being, I feel the lung is a good symbol of communal living and how we all have an impact on the environment around us.
The aim of this research is to consider how humans live within a smoky environment and how their own breathing or smoking changes the body of smoke. In this project, I have combined ideas about everyday human behaviour with scientific knowledge of the body’s interior. I am particularly interested in the interaction between space and human breathing.
I made this drawing to illustrate the action of smoking. I also researched how the human lung changes after smoking for one year, five years, twenty years, thirty years and fifty years. This clearly shows how the environment in the lung changes as a result of smoke pollution and the person’s chosen lifestyle.
During this research, I also looked at the issue of smog, which is a heavy fog caused by extreme pollution. This was a huge problem in London fifty years ago and sometimes covered the city for days, preventing everyone from working. After seeing this for himself, the artist Monet made some interesting paintings, using dark and mute colours.
I have been looking at an area in London, which is currently seriously polluted. It is situated by the river Thames - on the left side is a factory and on right is an airport. Both of these sites produce gas, which pollutes the environment. I am designing a new landscape for this area, which I have called ‘Lung’.
For the model of the construction I am using a transparent material. I have chosen this material because I want to incorporate the idea of transparency. This will bring both environment and architecture together, as well as human activity inside and outside the building. The landscape combines light, art and space in response to the changes and complexity of human breathing and its impact on their environment.
When the factory work starts at 7:00AM, it starts to produce polluted gas, which affects the view of the construction. This also throws out a different body of colour as well as expanding the presence of the factory construction. At about 1:00PM the factory produces more gas and environmental pollution peaks. At this time, the smoke trail moves much faster and its expanse is both higher and bigger. By the time the factory shuts down around 10PM, the main flights at the airport have also slowed down. As a result, visible pollution disappears and the presence of the factory goes back to normal.
I have compared this factory and movement of smoke to the function the human lung and its exposure to smoke inhalation. I am concerned with how smoke spreads into and damages the space of the lung as well as the air that we breath. The parallel between city pollution and a potentially unhealthy lung is a good reminder that we should protect the environment. I am using this concept to design a landscape, which expresses the complex relationship between the human body and environment.
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