New Music Foundation, Manchester Part 2 Project 1999 Tony Calcott Manchester School of Architecture Manchester | UK Tony Calcott : Manchester School of Architecture BArch : Personal StatementMy work focuses on the synaesthetic aspect of Bioclimatic Architecture, where inspiration is taken from natural systems complemented by an emphasis on the psychological aspects of space. Slides 1 and 2 : Aerofoil Gallery, Lisbon;an investigation into the nature of a skin, both as a climatic modifier and as the major synaesthetic element in a design.Slides 3 to 8 : Irish Writers Museum, Dublin; an exploration of the polemic nature of Irish writing. Context, narrative (concerning faith and sexuality) and sense experience are addressed by an interplay of layered translucent leaves, promenade and surface illusion.Slide 9 : BBC Pod, London; a space for news casting conceived dynamically in terms of spatial experience, where form was generated using animation software.Slides 10 to 20 : New Music Foundation, Manchester; a tiered monolith which stands dislocated from the street. It shivers on the brink of perpetual motion, behind a layer of intense reflections, as etched lines on its surface interfere with a second protective glass skin, relative to passing observers. Internally, changes in the ambient array are elevated through changing interference patterns in the periphery of vision. Urban camouflage on the outside transforms into a cinematic experience on the interior. A promenade ascends through the gallery spaces taking the visitor on a journey behind the glossy face of the music industry. Spatial distortions are complemented by an illusory stream of information through the exhibition. Tony Calcott is an enigmatic, highly talented and self-motivated young designer. He sets high intellectual goals for his design work and is not content with achieving less. His dedication to and concentration on his work are unfaltering, with most of his B Arch work being developed through finely crafted computer renderings, not over dramatised fly-past animations but controlled instances of the 'promenade architecturale'.His design work, as exemplified in his thesis, is conceptually complex, always working on more than one level and never a one-liner. The thesis is a tour de force of visual illusion as both narrative and direct experience synergised through the Gibsonian notion of fit and reflection between animal and environment. Space is regarded as multidimensional, repeatedly crossing boundaries between dimensions and making reference to both source and experience. The work exhibits an extremely high degree of control from initial concept to the final finely rendered images, resulting in a synaesthetic Architecture that is both subtle and sublime.His weakness - hairstyle!Dr Geoff McKennan, Unit Tutor