School for Film-making and Animation Part 1 Project 2005 Tan Chin Chieh National University of Singapore | Singapore Animation is the quintessential currency in the future of film-making. The project showcases the dialogue between film-making and animation. The design's idea originated from review of novel "Neuromancer": the author's soul leaving his body and travelling through cyberspace. It depicts how a human being can co-exist in two dimensions ( body and soul ) at the same time. The building is a matrix made up of two displays :rigidity and flamboyance.Visitors experience deja vu as they walk from first to second floor. Open plan and orientation of building brings relavance of the concept and design to the site and culture in larger context. The project is very imaginative. It draws its inspiration from the novel 'Nuecroancer' in which the author experienced his soul leaving his body and transcending into virtual world to peek into his future. The idea that a human could exist in two mediums concurrently with one 'being' (the body) in the physical world and another (the soul) in the virtual world fascinates the student. The student attempts to exploit and translate this concept of duality into his project ‘School of Film-making and animation’. To him it is difficult to avoid having the physical ‘body’ succumb to the limitations in this world, like the grid structure, functions, gravity etc. whereas the ‘soul’ in the virtual world is totally free from all that. The idea of bringing these two 'beings' together is successfully configured in a matrix made up of two parts horizontally as well as vertically. One part of the complex, the body, is arranged rigidly and the other, the soul, breaks away from the rigidity and weaves freely into the greenery of the adjacent wood. The contrasting forms are very well handled thus adding sparks to the design. It is also very logical that the rigid part houses the mundane film making activities whereas the creative animation activities are placed at the other freer end. Common spaces are located in the middle transition zone. At the macro level the design incorporates linkages to the residents on both sides of the river as well as the highrise neighbourhood across the road. The idea of duality is cleverly further reinforced through the very different experiences offered by the two levels of linkway which are also interconnected in the middle zone where the two ‘beings’ meet in terms of building form and experiential journey. On the whole the project has a very clear strategy and the design is simple and yet intriguing.