9-GRID: Spirited Away, Chihiro's Dream
Project type: Film-based concept & Carpentry works
Designer(s): Chua Jia Ning, Sherica & Tay Yun Jun
Year: 2022
Project Description:
To research and conceptualise on the given aspect of experimentation with considerations for ergonomic interactivity between person and proposed body-displacement device based on the selected scenes in the provided narrative – Spirited Away (film 2001).
The final translation of this project would be the manifestation into a 1:1 scale fully constructed body-displacement device, on site with a 1:20 scale interactive prototype with resolved kinetic interior considerations.
UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS
Hesitant & shocked
CONFRONTATION
Determination
REALISATION & ACCEPTANCE
Enlightenment & Familiarity
To highlight the fluctuating intensity in relation to Chihiro’s reactions in the selected scenes through initiating a visual and practical use of strings in order to understand how malleable her the growth of emotions can be, all at the same time.
LEVEL 3
'REALISATION & ACCEPTANCE' is especially important as this is the only space where Chihiro could be herself without judgment. It acts like a safe space for her, where her curiosity takes over, allowing her to observe and learn more about her surroundings, which eventually made her realise that being in this foreign realm is actually not as crazy as she has portrayed it to be, slowly engraving familiarism with the space.
LEVEL 2
'CONFRONTATION' is being interpreted as Chihiro confronting what she has been suppressing throughout her visit to the Spiritual realm. During this scene, she was seen being determined and confident in dealing with obstacles that she originally would have been afraid of.
'UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTERS' starts the moment Chihiro crosses the wide bridge (rite of passage), where all of a sudden, she got caught as a human by the inhabitants there. Haku then took her and ran to safety. Chihiro was taught to follow a specific path to get herself settled in this foreign city. This was where she pursued her only goal, only to be graced with the unexpected.
LEVEL 1
DESCENDING RAMP
After a series of encounters, Chihiro was now familiar with how to interact with her surroundings. She sees a groove with a handle on the wall, and pulls it down confidently to proceed. Then pushing the wall beside to reveal a ramp that shows her the way out.
AUTOMATED PASSAGEWAY
As Chihiro slides the door open, a platform flips down infront of her. She dodges the first step to get to the next one.
LONDON BRIDGE
Chihiro was able to activate the walls on both ends to descend into a bridge. In the middle is
a flapped opening for her to crawl through
RISKY SITUATION
After pulling on a handle, a narrow surface reveals. Chihiro has to grip onto the thin railing provided for her to cross safely to the safe zone
LAYERED BRIDGE
As Chihiro climbs up the wiggly steps, knocking desperately on the surfaces for an opening. A bridge falls open along with a smaller extension to cross to the next grid.
NARROWING BRIDGE
After getting over, she pushes the wall with
confidence and reveals a narrow bridge for her to cross. As she’s crossing, the walls on both sides slowly caves in as she crosses the narrow bridge, forcing her to rush her way to the other end.
RUBRIK'S WALL
Climbing up the ladder, Chihiro hit desperately against the wall for the next step out. A small platform dropped as she crawls in, observing how to get the other platform down to cross to the other side
SHAPE SHIFTER
In order to get back to the initial point, Chihiro quickly squeeze through the obstacle infront of her
BOULDERING
As Chihiro fits her hand into the groove to pull the wall down, another wall at the bottom follow and falls into a landing platform for her
SLIDING PLATFORM
When escaping from the previous grid, the wall infront of her folds opens into a wide platform for her. She has to put in some work and pull herself across the rusty tracks which then unlocks a platform for her to proceed
WIGGLY STEPS
Chihiro arrived at a wall of flushed stairs. She has to do some thinking and be super careful with in order to proceed, else she might miss a step!
PUZZLE PIECE
Chihiro cautiously interacts with the wall to find a way out, then proceeds carefully to
avoid anymore surprises
SAFE FALL COCOON
Chihiro squeezes her way through only to find herself stepping on air, and before she knew it, she was enveloped by the cocoon
ZIGZAG LADDER
Chihiro pushes the false wall on the bottom which unlocks the ladder for her to pull down and climb up
SURPRISE PLANK
As she crosses the plat form, a tall still plank suddenly flips up against her, causing her to be shocked and carefully walk to the other side
ENTRANCE
Chihiro sees a lever and pushes it downwards to trigger the descend of the wall infront of her.
9-GRID ANIMATION:
9-GRID MODEL:
LASER CUT MODEL:
'SAFE FALL COCOON'
was inspired by Chihiro’s series of actions during the scene where she was rushing to get to her destination, squeezing her way through the crowd. She uses all her might to squeeze through the crowd, and once she got through, a sudden force pushed her from the back, enabling her to trip a little on her way out.
Slight adjustments were made to the grid for our 1:1 manifestation of 1.2m x 1.2m (Singular cube). With this, we decreased our grid from 2 levels to 1, all while keeping the essence of it.
FINAL 1:1 MODEL:
MANUAL DRAWING:
DRAWINGS
BEHIND THE SCENES
