Behind Closed Doors
2022, Graduate Project, Master of Architecture, University of British Columbia, temporarily installed at 6333 Memorial Road, Vancouver, BC

The fictional story of Behind Closed Doors was written in the format of a screenplay with the intention of becoming a short horror film. Instead, the screenplay was interpreted as a large-scale occupiable installation. In this proposed installation, audiences experience the narrative through immersive spaces that use techniques of horror film set design to mimic the cinematic portrayal of architecture within the genre. Audiences can pass through the story chronologically or reimagine the narrative through alternate routes. In the spring of 2022, a scaled-down version of the Behind Closed Doors installation proposal was constructed at a 1:1 scale in room 5C, located in the basement of 6333 Memorial Road, Vancouver, BC. This small installation included many of the settings from the screenplay of Behind Closed Doors, such as the protagonist’s bedroom closet, the school changing room, and abandoned house. The various horror design techniques seen in the larger installation proposal were also included in this iteration: forced perspectives created impossibly large spaces, lighting was strategically used to establish unsettling atmospheres while also highlighting significant details, false windows depicted adjacent spaces that could not possibly exist, and the complex layout of rooms disoriented occupants as they moved through the narrative of Behind Closed Doors. Upon exiting the installation, audiences were given a behind the scenes look at how the installation and its various moments of design trickery were constructed.

Click here to for the full project and accompanying thesis.