An exploration of a World War II bombing in Hackney, London — translating historical context into a sensory system through motion, sound, and typography. A dual-mapping system of olfactory incidents and conversational geometries captures the invisible, lived character of a site where past and present collapse into one another.
2023 — 2024
Context
This project explores the impact of a World War II bombing in Hackney, London, translating historical context into a sensory system through motion, sound, and typography. The aim is to create an immersive experience that communicates the emotional distortion of memory and connects past and present.
Methodology
To capture the invisible character of the site, a dual-mapping system was developed: Point Data (dots) to isolate specific olfactory triggers, and Polygonal Zones to define the reach and density of ambient conversations. This methodology allowed visualisation of how ephemeral sensory layers overlap to create the unique 'social friction' of the location.
Olfactory Incidents (The Dots) — Point-based mapping of specific scent sources, recording their frequency and location to identify the "smell-print" of the street.
Conversational Geometries (The Polygons) — Area-based mapping that defines the physical boundaries of social interaction, showing where sound clusters and where silence exists.
Design Intent
To translate these intangible, overlapping data sets into a rigorous visual framework that captures the fluid, lived experience of the site.
System Logic
Each layer operates independently yet becomes meaningful through superposition — the same way memory layers over physical space, blurring the boundary between then and now.
Output
This project explores the impact of a World War II bombing in Hackney, London, examining how the event has shaped the physical environment and how it is experienced today. Historical context is translated through motion, sound, and typography.
Film
The motion piece uses fragmented visuals, restrained colour shifts and ambient sound to construct a disoriented, memory-driven narrative. The visual system draws directly from the sensory cartography data — hexagonal conversation geometries dissolve and re-form as the camera descends through compressed time.
Publication
The zine is developed from documented interviews and on-site observations, translating personal accounts and overheard conversations into a narrative reflecting collective memory.
