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SUMMARY:Designed after Da Vinci - Sumet Jumsai\, Principal\, Sumet Jumsai 
 Architects
DTSTART:20130130T131500Z
DTEND:20130130T141500Z
UID:TALK43138@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ranald Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:The design brief for a new 15-storey teaching hospital complex
  at Siriraj\, comprised a large anatomy laboratory with several smaller on
 es\, along with an auditorium\, lecture theatres\, classrooms\, and pre-cl
 inic and medical informatics supporting facilities.\nWhen I was commission
 ed for the project and the anatomy laboratory was mentioned\, the first th
 ing that came to my mind were the sketches of the dissected human body by 
 Leonardo da Vinci of five centuries earlier. As the building design develo
 ped and complicated space planning requirements and engineering took over\
 , the initial momentary thought of the sketches must have been already wel
 l embedded in my mind for they resurfaced in the design of the building\, 
 in particular the front elevation. Like the human anatomy drawings\, the b
 uilding is opened up “surgically” to reveal the physiological structur
 e behind. In spite of the intense propagation of Leonardo da Vinci’s sci
 entific and technological works\, including city planning\, hydraulic and 
 military engineering\, the popular perception of the master is still the p
 ainter of Mona Lisa. Few realise\, however\, that as a painter he only pro
 duced 23 canvases in his whole life. \nThe anatomy laboratory complex at S
 iriraj Hospital\, in a way\, can be regarded as a  Vincian building in tha
 t I merely served as a “medium” so that his sketches may be re-interpr
 eted architecturally in our time.
LOCATION:First-floor Classroom\, Department of Architecture
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