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Darkroom

Darkroom

In-between Space, darkroom

In-between Space, darkroom

Shutter, a facade strategy.

Shutter, a facade strategy.

Section: a box within the 'switchbox'.

Section: a box within the 'switchbox'.

Plan: zooming-in.

Plan: zooming-in.

Showroom, darkroom as apparatus.

Showroom, darkroom as apparatus.

Darkroom

The Darkroom reimagines Substation No. 342 in Paddington as an adaptive-reuse project where industrial heritage and analog photography intersect. The project critiques how technological transitions leave industrial heritage underused while celebrating the tactile materiality of analog image-making. Architectural strategies—Zooming-in, Apparatus, and Shutters—recast the substation through acts of scaling, nesting, and re-framing light, echoing core photographic processes. A fourth strategy, Greenscreen, extends this narrative into the backyard by transforming the remaining industrial frame into a flexible courtyard for open-air cinema and community gatherings. Together, these operations redefine preservation as cultural renewal, turning an underused existing substation into a site for collective memory-making.

Nian Li

External Website

Darkroom

The Darkroom reimagines Substation No. 342 in Paddington as an adaptive-reuse project where industrial heritage and analog photography intersect. The project critiques how technological transitions leave industrial heritage underused while celebrating the tactile materiality of analog image-making. Architectural strategies—Zooming-in, Apparatus, and Shutters—recast the substation through acts of scaling, nesting, and re-framing light, echoing core photographic processes. A fourth strategy, Greenscreen, extends this narrative into the backyard by transforming the remaining industrial frame into a flexible courtyard for open-air cinema and community gatherings. Together, these operations redefine preservation as cultural renewal, turning an underused existing substation into a site for collective memory-making.

Nian Li

External Website