‘William Stanley’s organic, explosive model of a Battersea Power Station chimney is glorious’ – Gillian Darley, Architects Journal, 16 June 2011.

Exhibited in the 2011 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition ‘Industrial Radiology’ is an extraction and amalgamation of lung anatomy and a Battersea Power Station chimney. A combination of MRI Scan data extracted from dicom image sets and the existing geometry of one of London’s industrial relics, the project explores and blurs the boundaries between the real and the virtual.

Digitally dissecting one of the chimneys of Gilbert Scotts Battersea Power Station to reveal a convergence of lung anatomy and internal steel structure, constructed of laser cut planar slices of hand made watercolour paper for the chimney and SLS 3d printed nylon polymer for the anatomy, the model articulates a language between digital manufacturing fabrication processes and the individual elements of a hand crafted technique.

Conceptually the model explores a certain paradox between placing the anatomy of human lungs in the chimney of a coal fired power station. The juxtaposition of these two contrasting subjects aims to continue the discussion on sustainability and the need for renewable energy sources.