Interstice

Personal Info

Name: Sehama Salah

Nationality: Dutch

Institution / Company: Birmingham City University

Instagram: sehama.n

-HONOURABLE MENTION of Non Architecture Award 2022 Competition | Category: Aspatial & Virtual

Like the mobius strip, it was my endless loop of doomed reality for the people, trapping them in their own state of mind. 

It was never my intention to create this simultaneous existence of walls and structures towering through a city but to create an escape. Or so you think. Manifested from a ‘terrain vague’ and countless exploration from movement to refraction of light, I designed an interstitial space below ground as a system. A physical-scale simulacrum inspired by Baudrillard’s theory “that human experience is a simulation of reality”. The second image was my expression of internal chaos, derived from my interpretation on the brief – mental health. As a young designer, I find myself thinking very differently to others and often struggle to understand concepts without visual representation so I created this tryptic collage in my third image influenced by Lebbeus Woods and Libeskind, which establishes a space between two cities to travel through. 

Although they are portrayed as huge concrete and steel structures piercing through the cities surface in a maze-like plan, it’s a play on the words ‘it’s all in your head’. The passage to the underground is found at the site of the abandoned building, explaining technical aspects of movement, light and ventilation in this aspatial environment. The renderings of the sections explore the earthy atmosphere and dimly illuminated journey through this space. Ironically, the exit guides you back into the abandoned warehouse, creating this illusion of a social reality where there is just no escape. 

Project Type:

Manifestation of social architecture 😊?

Jury Comments

– Mariana Cabugueira

Very good graphism. Very good written statement piece. Outstanding ability to translate concept visualisations and space intensions to technical drawings and architecture.

– Kuba Jekiel

An impressive visual social study and a multi-layered intervention, which fascinates as much as petrifies. The project shows a very analytical, multi-layered intervention presented with stunning visuals, that make it exceptionally memorable.