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Prosthetic Sanctorum

Part 2 Project 2011
Zaynib Khan
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool | UK
The Prosthetic Sanctorum; a spiritual retreat. A place of healing.

Everton Brow, an underused and leftover piece of green land in Liverpool was the progenitor for an urban group study where the Prosthetic Sanctorum project emanated.

The group work re-appropriated the site towards the design of a science research urban park. This culminated in a visionary proposal that explores future technologies that coexist within the urban public domain, thus challenging our pre-conceptions of what such facilities should be. In this sense, one may experience a landscape where artificial bees, the growth of new species of plants and the processing of soya beans intermingle as an urban offering.

The Sanctorum project takes a clue from this scientific context and delves into technology as a guiding principle to explore prosthetics. The subject is an emerging and growing condition arising from conflicts worldwide as well as accidental casualties that require support at various levels: from the physical to the psychological. Rather than adopting the expected low-key approach, the project is thematically pursued and celebrated at a poetic level whilst it is firmly anchored by a rigorously researched and sensitively developed programme.
The metaphoric interpretation of the dynamics of prosthetics (the replacement of a missing limb, biomechatronics, technology and kinetics) is explored through a process of architectural ritualisation and is ultimately celebrated in this unique project.
In this sense, the architecture and its programme of activities transcend beyond the stigmatised perception often associated in these centres and creates an uplifting and joyous Sanctorum for rehabilitation.

The creative journey, through gardens and spaces of social interaction stimulate the healing process.
The design subjectively resembles a mechanical creature. The design orchestrates as four elements
The Body - the 'wall' - the nucleus of rest
The Drum - the core, a continuous walkway within a tunnel / significant viewpoint of the memorial termination space.
The Mechanical Arms - canopy: theatrical experience, ventilation strategy
The Gardens - a surreal landscape of white planting - symbolising peace, healing and retreat. Dapples of red tulips over the landscape are a metaphor and remembrance of the bloodshed and the loss of a limb.



Zaynib Khan

Tutor(s)
Mr Philip Lo
2011
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