The Evaluation of space Part: 9 (E.S.: 9) – part e‘The University of Plymouth: A survey project’ 2010-2011

Or:

‘One years Psychogeographic adventure into the alien environment of Academic facilities, bureaucracy and failure that turns into my personal fiction.”

E.S: 9eScott‘Gents Toilets’

Or:

“Haunted of the thoughts of small boys pissing in low urinals.”

By Oliver Griffin

E.S.:9e / Fig. 0

The Scott building, in which most of the Arts faculties are based in, has parts that have not changed from the since the it was first built as a 1920’s next to the original Plymouth free school on Coburg Street. This original fixture of learning within this campus of enterprise stems back to 1809, as it established the history of this plot of land to come. This building what we now call ‘Scott’ also has mixed history of uses, from a public secondary school to polytechnic (Cobourg Building) then straight into the main base for the School of Art when it was transplanted from Exeter. Starting from September 2004 with the first and second year degree students moving into the second floor and mezzanine levels. Burwell Deakins Architects were employed with the redevelopment and modernisation of the building in order it be a more ‘sophisticated home for visual art studios’. This did not apply to the original toilets that came with this building, especially the gents in room number M112a. It was only up to mid-2011, the toilet paper dispensers where replace to the standard model that is used thought out the rest of the University of Plymouth. This all came to lack of budget for non-necessary elements of the refurbishment of the building. As simple as that. Nothing political, historical or emotional, just simply monetary.

Complication was finished in 2007 of the RIBA award winning conversation, along with the two extensions of Roland Levinsky Building. This then allowed the rest faculty to relocate to Plymouth from Exeter. The relocation it self seemed to harder on the personal mentally than logistically, with some members of staff not acknowledging the decision to this day. One thing is sure though, the humble, original ‘rest-rooms’ have been replaced with new modern cubicles on the ground and first floor.But I can only notice that they are always leaking at the faucets and blue roll litters the compact areas as you enter...which I can only notice is the opposite of the communal washrooms. That lead you into the original identity and standards of the turn of last century.

E.S.:9e / Fig. 1

E.S.:9e / Fig. 2

Copyright© Oliver Griffin 2012

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission of the publishers.

Borist Press Life is boring, why make it interesting?  

This series of pychogeographical adventures within the University of Plymouth, U.K, explores the topography through the typologies of the everyday objects and elementary architecture that clutters Oliver Griffin’s educational environment between September 2010 to November 2012. Though this transplantation into an alien environment for the purposes of education, these publications are records of mundane points of inter-est accompanied with observational notes and a crudely research history of the site. This is set of documents evaluates and archives a point in time where the United Kingdoms educational at a graduate level is changing within a polit ical landscape along with the psychical environment of this particular academic environment.

Borist Press Life is boring, why make it interesting?