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The Solace of Memory
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1
THESOLACE
OF MEMORY:
SPATIALIZING TIME THROUGH ARCHITECTONIC INTERPRETATION
Jennifer Jammaers11012989
30.04.2012
Research-Led DesignUnder supervision of John Stevenson
P30032
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This Research-led-Design Project is presented to the School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University in
part fulfilment of the regulations for the Master in Architectural Design.
Statement of Originality: This Research-led-Design Project is an original piece of work which is made
available for copying with permission of the Head of the School of Architecture.
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CONTENTS Remembering Deer [7] Introduction [17]1.0 MEMORY1.1 Remembering as Escapism [25]1.2 Escaping the Present [33]1.3 Memory as Interpretative Process [43]1.4 Memory: Through Image [51]1.5 Memory Interpreted [57]
2.0 PLACE2.1 Memory and Place [73]2.2 Spatializing Time [77]2.3 Capturing Memory [85]2.4 Remembered Space [93]
3.0 MEMORY - INSPIRING - SPACE3.1 Archinterpretation [101]3.2 Contextualizing Place [107]3.3 Waiting for Trains [133]
Post-Script [157] Appendix [163] References [165] Image Credits [167]
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REMEMBERING DEER
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11 November 2011, 9:08 a.m.
It was a typically groggy autumn day, the sun wishing to peek through the
grayness though too obstructed by clouds and a slight mist to persist. It was mid morning
and it showed, the herd of black coats rushing hurriedly to work was starting to die down
and the lobby at Waterloo Station was beginning to reveal a slightly calmer cluster of
travellers and a scrambling of late commuters here and there. Just coming through
the barriers I spotted a lady tawdrily cursing at her heel after inelegantly tripping on
it as she scurried in haste towards the Underground. I noticed another lady walking
towards the Underground, she, unlike the first woman, seemed much more relaxed and
inherently more content as her friend spoke to her. They too wore black coats; I often
assumed most commuters to be quite mushy in the mornings – this woman’s elatedness
however, intrigued me. As they walked past me I managed to overhear part of their
conversation where they mentioned something about travelling down to the South coast
to see relatives on Saturday morning. I realised then that it was the end of the week, and
this anomalous yet dismissive air which I then noticed amongst various other travellers
was due to this fact. Most were emphatically thinking about the weekend ahead so as to
get through this otherwise miserable Friday, and so they strode on, almost finding joy in
this day of the week over any other day.
As I stood in the middle of the slightly curving lobby of Waterloo Station looking up at
the Departures board trying to find which Platform the next train to Portsmouth Harbour
left from, my eyes fixated themselves upon the word Richmond on the departures board.
The name of the place sounded so familiar. There was something about this place, I
knew it was famous for a huge park which had deer but the memory did not quite divulge
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itself. I tried not to think much more if it, I went through the barriers close to Platform 17
and realised I had entered the wrong way so I made my way to Platform 9 where my train
departed from. They announced the circular route to Hounslow and Richmond on Platform
17 was due to leave shortly and my head turned towards the direction of Platform 17 and
as it did I caught the glance of a little girl staring through the window of the last coach.
I turned around and made my way to my platform not without uncomfortably crossing
obstacles first; all the while picturing the little girl looking out of the window. I stopped on
Platform 12 and put my bags down – the little girl still on my mind.
The train left Waterloo and as it peered into the bright midmorning light and out of the
station, a moment which took my eyes some time to recover from, it revealed that the
clouds had drifted slightly and part of the sky seemed to have cleared out. My head
turned to face a huge Ferris wheel by the river Thames being craned up into place.
Dad noticed me staring at it and mentions indulgently how we will go on it once it was
open. I looked at him with excitement, but at the same time slightly terrified – the wheel
was the biggest I had ever seen, even at the comfortable distance from the train. I
watched it disappear into the distance, the rest of the city around seemed to disappear
rather quickly too. Office towers and dilapidated buildings became smaller, and as dad
pointed at Battersea Power Station it too drifted through the horizon and eventually all
that remained were flawless rows of rooftops – miles and miles of rooftops with the odd
office building sticking out.
Most of the time after that the train seemed to be low on the ground – partially hidden
by autumn-tinted trees which flickered as their leaves tussled from the speeding train
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gushing through. A couple of times I was able to catch a glimpse of the river but for much
too short a period of time to appreciate it, and just as I hoped to catch another glimpse,
we had arrived at Richmond. The town seemed very quaint; we passed lots of little shops
with mannequins dressed in magnificent fur coats and women shopping inside wearing
just as lavish ones. We walked along the river and then through a field. I remember
nearly slipping on the wet mud and starting to get fed up of all the walking; and just as
I felt like complaining about it to dad we reached a road, and across a black gate which
became apparent in the near distance and there it was - Richmond Park. We spent the
whole day exploring the vast grounds; we had a picnic on the lawn, we wondered through
the trees, the beautiful botanic garden which we stumbled upon, and we later followed
that with scrumptious cream teas and a particularly scolding hot chocolate at the cafe at
the top of the hill as I can recall. Whilst we looked down on the river and contemplated
the journey we had just made the sun started to set over the Surrey hills. Dad made
a comment about how if you stared closely into the sun without blinking, just as it was
about to set, you could catch a green glare which only occurs for a split second – I tried
hard to see it but I must have missed my chance, either that or he made the whole thing
up. Nonetheless I enjoyed the challenge. As we made our way back to the station and
out of the park there they were, right to the side of the road, in a meadow amongst a
clearing of trees, a herd of deer, as tame as doves in a central square – all of a sudden
a voice in the intercom called for the last passengers to board the 09:30 to Portsmouth
Harbour and before thinking twice about it the memory was gone and I boarded the
coach in front of me.
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Image 01 - Dad + I at Richmond Park
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INTRODUCTION
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Many studies relating to memory-recall show a certain relationship between the
frequency of an event and our ability to remember it. These studies have stated that
repetition at the encoding moment increases the brain’s ability to remember something,
‘[w]ith respect to retention, however, the picture changes, and the durability of what is
learned is clearly enhanced where the learning experience is more heterogeneous’,
The ability to remember an old memory, more specifically a particular event set years in
the past, due to references within the environment you may be at the moment of recall
however, is supported by studies which state that ‘recognition decisions are based on
contextual retrieval of specific trace information’. [Groeger, 1997: 136-140] It is within
these findings that the following study bases itself on.
The study initially aims to establish how memory or rather the process of remembering is
pertinent to our every-day life and our existential desire to experience, especially at a time
when technological advancements are reinventing the way in which we experience. It also
looks to investigate how place influences the process of remembering and the conception
of memory itself. Lastly it endeavours to explicate how we as architects interpret the
concept of place-making through notions of memory, which in itself is an interpretative
process, in order to create a phenomenological experience of space. It is important
to denote that the relevance of this study lies not only on the interpretative allegations
behind architectural design, or on the interpretative aspects of memory-recall, but within
the amalgamation of these notions. The study therefore investigates the relationship that
exists, or could exist between the process of design as well as the outcome of design,
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and the encoding, retention and recollection of memory – predominantly in respect to our
autobiographical memory.
The specificity of the type of memory is not only due to the broadness of said subject,
but also to restrain the study from being prejudiced by anterior studies of architecture
and memory. In this aspect the study differentiates itself from other papers which look at
architecture and memory and its nostalgic connotations as some sort of commemorative
edifice or memorial. Instead, the study looks into the psychological response(s) of memory
in respect to place and place making, and so it does not aim to address directly the
various other types of memory, sensory methods of remembrance, semiotic properties of
memory, or any other subsidiaries which may be attributed to memory or interpretation.
Said concepts have already been addressed in publications like MeMory + reMeMbering:
everyday MeMory in context [Groeger, 1997] or interpretation in architecture: design
as a way of thinking [Snodgrass and Coyne, 2006], or even spatial recall: MeMory in
architecture and landscape [Treib, 2009] which though directly addresses the experience
of the body and personal memory within architecture, it fails to elaborate on memory as
a process of design. Though this does not mean that these concepts are not intrinsic to
the development of the study or that they will not be made reference to within the study,
by not elaborating on these topics, but rather cross examining what is already known of
these subjects and finding common parameters between what had before appeared to
be too subjective to address architectonically, the study endeavours to keep the focus
central to its aims without derailing off topic.
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The study encompasses various methodological elements which form the basis of the
project embedded within the study. Firstly, the narratives which emerge throughout the
study present themselves as an illustrative means of situating certain ideas explored
throughout said study. Ultimately however, they provide a backdrop for the design
project to be understood as, or rather interpreted as per the reader’s own discernment to
the study and design project. The scenario posited by the narrations and accompanying
media including film, graphical representation, and spatial installations, give the reader
an insight into someone else’s subjective account of their memories and their own
experiences in relationship to place; which in this case is Waterloo Station in London. So
that they are able to sympathize with the narrator’s experiences and see the emergence,
development and outcome of the project in context; whilst implying along the way
that they too can interject their own experiences into the project and make their own
interpretations, ultimately positing an indefinite, however self-reflective, outcome to the
final project. Secondly, architectural and non-architectural precedents like architect
Peter Zumthor’s own account of building his own home heavily inspired by his own
professional experiences and personal memories and artist Maya Zack’s installation
depicting the interpretative and highly subjective characteristics of memory, all explore
the notions of interpreting experience and memory through different media. The last,
nonetheless pertinent aspect presents evidence of these media being used as part of the
method of design behind the project itself through a series of explorative films, collages
and renders.
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As with the narrative, the resulting representations, though purposely executed for a
reason, are in themselves free to be re-interpreted by the reader and thus the ‘experiments’
accompanying this study and adjunct design project provide a methodological reference
to the investigative and interpretative process that might occur during a design
development without necessarily stating their outcome. Ultimately, the study alongside
the design project aims not only to question whether space can produce memories [as
the first chapter investigates], but more emphatically, it questions whether space can be
manipulated to provoke as well as produce memory upon experience.
In essence, the study reverts to address its main focus of how an architect may
interpret the concept of place-making through notions of memory in order to create a
phenomenological experience of space by investigating the mnemonic properties of said
or other places through an empirical architectural project. The overall study does not
aim to put forward a definitive method of design nor seek to pose memory as a resolution
or detriment to our current social situation, but rather poses a study which makes the
individual [user or designer] reflect on the impact [positive or negative] that space [existing
or in the making] can have upon human perception, upon our experiences [past, present,
or future] – it offers an opportunity for the individual to expressly interpret a situation. It is
both a study and a design project that seeks to evaluate and test Pallasmaa’s, Zumthor’s
and Bachelard’s premise of an architecture created from experience for experience.
Memory – Inspiring – Space.
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PART I.0MEMORY
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PART 1.1REMEMBERING
AS ESCAPISM
‘You can only anticipate the future if you can call
the past to mind.’[Eco, 2005:36]
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In his book the Mysterious flaMe of Queen loana, Umberto Eco [2005:36] brings
awareness to an individual’s realization that our lives consist of being able to recall
the past in order to anticipate the future. Over the past few decades a resurgence of
this past, the vernacular and the traditional has disguisedly manifested itself against
the emotionless and sterile, the ultra-modern and minimalist; against the forward-
facing technologies which encapsulate our everyday life [Hutcheon, 1998]. Through
globalization and capitalism the user has become overwhelmed by choice and popular
culture; the idea of the vernacular has now become either a reclamation business or
manufactured Kitsch. Fashion brings back the re-utilization of our granny’s clothes as
a vintage fad, conservationists seek to restore and bring back the psyche of yesteryear
architecture through tight legislation, barn conversions and tactile restorations; we are
subconsciously seeking to perpetually hold onto the past.
The question that arises here is why? Why do we desire the past when we live in a
society driven by the advancements of tomorrow? We might look to answer this question
by observing exactly how this forward-facing behavior is affecting us. We currently live
within an invisible matrix that translates our words into txt and our feelings into interactive
eMoticons; a virtual place which allows us to conduct work meetings, meet friends, and
even explore other cultures without even deviating our eyes from the screen. With all
this occurring around us, it is no wonder we are becoming more aware that we are in
danger of losing the physical ability to interact with other people, the physical ability to
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experience space, and the physical ability to place ourselves within our social, cultural
and geographic environment. [Hutcheon, 1998]
Catharine Savage [1964:161] posed an interesting discussion of Marcel Proust’s a la
recherche du teMps perdu where she convenes, that for Proust ‘it is not just the past
moment remembered which interests him, but the past moment relived in the present and
identical to it, forming thus a bridge over the gulf of time and becoming “extratemporal”
[sic]’ that truly interested him. Proust re-experienced his past through everyday chores,
however today, as earlier depicted, aspects of our everyday, like meeting someone for
a drink, depend on technology, on arranging this appointment through a text or e-mail,
leaving us with more time to do more things and very little time to enjoy the experience
of expectation. Our perception of time, as Michio Kaku [2001] demonstrates through his
documentary series on tiMe, is precipitated depending on age and what occurs around
us. Nonetheless, it is what occurs around us particularly that is most pertinent to how we
perceive time and consequently how we feel about it and the change we are so quickly
experiencing.
At the time Proust wrote about delighting himself with the memory of a Madeline or
rather what the act of eating a Madeleine equated to, a feeling of constructive upheaval
leading to a nostalgic reaction was emerging throughout western civilization. Linda
Hutcheon explains the relationship that the upraising of postmodernism had with the
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1848
1946
1967
2011
Image 02 - Waterloo Rail Station over the years
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Image 03 - A Waterloo platform then and now
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feeling of nostalgia that was most notable at this transitional epoch in her essay: irony,
nostalgia and the post-Modern [1998]. Here Hutcheon elucidates on the preconception
that ‘nostalgia is a by-product of cultural modernity’ by posing a comparative discussion
between the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, and our experience at the turn to the
21st century. She begins the discussion by acknowledging that both had ‘their common
doubts about progress’, they ‘shared worries over political instability and social inequality’
and had ‘comparable fears about disruptive change’ mainly in the form of production,
the Industrial Age back then and the Digital Age now. Lowenthal elucidates on how
these fears were manifested in the ‘last fin-de-siècle panic’ through ‘idealizations of rural
life, in vernacular-revival architecture, in arts-and-crafts movements, and in a surge of
preservation activity’. She also presents the post-modern movement at the end of the
20th century as the parallel of what occurred a hundred years prior and reflects that
‘nostalgia undermines modernist assertions of originality, authenticity, and the burden
of the past, even as it acknowledges their continuing (but not paralyzing) validity as
aesthetic concerns’. Hutcheon deflects again to the idea that nostalgia may be seen as
an alternate escapism to the realities of then 1998 where many were approaching the
end of the millennium as the last time they could be able to hold on to their past, their
lives, and their whole being as they knew them. What was being referred to at the time as
a ‘technological apocalypse’ was fast becoming a reality. [Hutcheon, 1998]
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Nearly fifteen years later from Hutcheon’s publication and another century from Proust’s
we find ourselves in the new millennium and confronted by a similar conundrum. We
have mostly welcomed technology into our everyday life but somehow some of us still feel
suffocated by it. We can record everything in small memory devices almost to the point
where our own memories seem irrelevant. On the other hand, we have found something
that we have never had before, the ability to be connected to the rest of the world [like
many online forums such as CNN’s own connect the world] simultaneously all thanks
to wireless technology and the internet. This openness and availability of resources
however, has brought alight events and things which have changed how we see things,
how we experience our environment and everything around us. Film for example has
become a strong tool in the spread of ideologies. Motion pictures like Angelina Jolie’s in
the land of blood and honey [to be released 2012] look into the past, into our errors and
moments of ignorance back then to learn and act upon similar circumstances happening
right now so that similar mistakes can be prevented from reoccurring [Anderson, 2012].
For some, this has endowed us with a new power to do things, but for the rest it has also
left us wondering what else does the past hold? What else in our lives have we ignored
or missed out? The resulting feeling is sometimes exoteric and extraneous to the point
where we find solace in the things that make us belong or remind us of simpler times.
Just as memories can be cataclysmic, they can also be sources of consolation – an
escape.
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PART I.2ESCAPING
THE PRESENT
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As I stepped out of the train and onto the platform at Portsmouth Harbour I felt
a rush of impatience. I had reached the coast yet it was still hectic with people heading
into the shopping centre, buses crowding the streets and taxis barricading the exit of the
station. As I took in everything that was happening I spotted some teenagers sitting on
the rails looking out onto the bay being rowdy and – my mind stopped for a moment, then
I realised they were just being teenagers, not caring about anything. I wanted to feel like
that, I guess I almost did, but it was not liberating, rather it was quite enervating. I wanted
to be by the sea, but away from so many people. I wondered through the streets trying to
find my way to the sea, in retrospect getting on a bus and asking the driver to stop at the
nearest beach would have been much more efficient than walking down roads and roads
where the landscape changed very little. Some seemingly new developments against
some sixties’ concrete apartment blocks followed by roundabouts and schools and brick
walls which blocked my view from whatever was inside. It made me think about how
introverted we are as people, to our neighbours and even our family, yet how easily we
open up to strangers online, we exhibit everything about us on a networking site hoping
someone might care. In person however, we like to be private, we assume no one wants
to hear about our day, if they ask we know it is just pleasantries so we keep it quick and
friendly. I kept walking, gradually the walking was making me feel more tranquil, though I
noticed the shops and terraced houses around me, I had been down high streets before,
but this was not quite as frantic as other high streets, only a few shops and trees, lining
the road - I always found this pacifying. These trees actually reminded me of the detour
I used to make as a child on my way to school, down tree-lined roads just like this just
because I liked them. I followed the signs to the sea front until I noticed the landscape
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changing again, it was a park, I walked through it and I could see an amusement park
at the end and I knew the sea was beyond it. I avoided it. Instead I kept walking; I could
now see the sea fully. I kept walking, despite being right there, it still felt too collective if
that can be said of a place. There was the park, some fish and chip shops, an ice cream
parlour, a few scattered monuments and I could still see the amusement park. Despite
being November and looking quite desolate, there were still the occasional dog walkers
and I wanted to keep walking nonetheless.
I walked and walked, on the beach where I could, otherwise on the pavement and
eventually I reached a stretch of beach that went on and on, I walked to the middle, the
houses were well far behind the road, and there was a bit of land which stretched into the
sea so I sat there, on the bit where the shingle became sand, it was a bit wet and very
cold, but I still wanted to feel the sand between my toes. As I dug my feet into the sand
my mind reverted to that place quite a few years ago where I did the exact same thing but
in competition with my younger brother to see who could dig deeper. There was really
no point to that game as we both just ended burying ourselves in sand and having to go
to the sea to get it out of our bathing suits. The sand in that place was warm, it gleamed
with the warm sun shining upon it and it had little crabs crawling in and out. My brother,
Gaby [we called him that lovingly unknowing as children that it was actually a girl’s name]
used to follow me everywhere I went and mimicked everything I did, it was very easy to
get him to do what I wanted, perhaps that is why I am such a dominant person now, or
at least I used to be. Something within me feels no desire to be noticed or perceived a
certain way; part of me however still wants strongly to be perceived a certain way – it is
quite an oxymoron but I guess it reflects how I think about the digitalized world we live in.
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I looked back at that time when Gaby and I played in the beach, at how our dad would
cycle us both to school, Gaby on the steering bar cushioning himself with a small pillow
he would carry everywhere and I on the top tube holding emphatically so I wouldn’t fall
off. Everything back then seemed so effortless and the only worries that existed in my
mind were whether I would fall off that bike and whether Gaby and I would be able to go
to the beach after school. It is arguably age that brings concerns and worries, though
when thinking about those times I do ponder whether it is age explicitly that makes us see
things differently as we have more knowledge and experience – as we learn to interpret
things - or whether it is also our surroundings that influence how we feel? As I sat there
on the sand my mind drifted in time and resurrected more memories of sunsets back
at that beach where Gaby and I used to play in. A sudden chill encapsulated my body
momentarily and the memory was gone and I was left staring at the sun setting over the
gap between the Isle of Wight and Southampton. The evening was turning very cold
and my feet and hands started to feel numb, somehow my mind deflected my senses to
feel what they felt back in that warm beach, that place we once called home which now
seems so very far away even though back then it was the only place we knew and now all
that is left of that wonderfully tropical paradise are traces of it in my mind. Now however,
even those were gone and my mind was blank, all it could see was that sunset. I sat
there and took in the last of its warmth; I felt it on my skin along with the cold sea breeze.
Listening to the rolling waves scramble the shingled beach I wished I could live every day
like this, fully knowing that this would not be I took a handful of sand and shoved it inside
a crumpled tissue and tucked it safely away in my pocket – I guess it felt like a reminder
of the better times now gone by.
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Image 04 - Memories of the beach
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Image 05 - Memories of sunsets
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PART I.3MEMORY AS
INTERPRETATIVE PROCESS
‘The act of remembering a personally experienced event, that is,
consciously recollecting it, is characterized by a distinctive, unique awareness of
re[-]experiencing here and now something that happened before, at another time
and in an other place.’ [Tulving, 1993:68]
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In a recent BBC documentary, Michio Kaku [2001] investigates our perception of
time by emphasising how psychological research has demonstrated that the older we
get, the more we tend to remember the nicer moments in our life. Another experiment by
psychologist Fred Bryant [in Krakovsky, 2006] showed that Nostalgia ‘can give you a sense
of being rooted, a sense of meaning and purpose—instead of being blown around by the
whims of everyday life’. Marina Krakovsky elucidates that even though we can often find
ourselves looking at the past with resentment rather than contentment, a better approach
to the elapsing of time as suggested by Bryant, would be to use ‘positive reminiscence as
part of a cycle that also includes savouring the present and looking forward to the future’.
For instance, rather than looking back indignantly at the past just to remember how things
used to be in simpler times, you may try to re-surge nostalgic memories to revisit a place
which once brought you happiness, not trying to recreate that moment, but rather going to
visit this place with no intentions other than to experience it in its present form.
Though nostalgia is seen nowadays as a common descriptive term, in the past it was
seen as an unbalanced disorder of the imagination and as such it was seen as a medical
disease [Calhoun in Hutcheon, 1998]. Though this became less ‘medically credible’
with better understanding of pathological anatomy and bacteriology, nostalgia became a
generalised term in modern language used to describe our yearning for times gone past
[Kant and Hutcheon, in Ibid]. The ability to recall the memories which may instigate a
sense of nostalgia within us however has a rather more scientific explanation imbedded
within the cognitive processes inside our brain.
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Science tells us remembering can be understood in a variety of terms and relationships
which can be associated with several types of memory. Firstly it discusses the differences
between implicit and explicit memory to be understood as memory which takes place when
doing a task that 1. ‘Do[es] not require reference to a specific episode’, like brushing your
teeth for instance; you remember what to do because you have done it before therefore the
knowledge of brushing your teeth is encoded in your memory – this would be your implicit
memory; or 2. Entails ‘conscious recollection of prior experiences’, for example it may be
that the flavour of the toothpaste reminds you of a specific time when you brushed your teeth
with toothpaste that tasted just like it – this would be your explicit memory. You distinctively
remember the event because the taste triggered a neurological response based on historic
information stored in your brain. Groeger reiterates that the main difference between these
two memory processes relies ‘in part, on the phenomenal experience of the rememberer
[sic]’ whereby it is not just what is remembered that influences a memory at point of recall,
but how it is remembered, how we interpret that memory. In the case of explicit memory
‘remembering may occur voluntarily [i.e. trying to remember] or spontaneously [i.e. being
reminded of something...]’; Whilst in implicit memory, the ‘retrieval of information’ as
Hutcheon refers to remembering, may not occur consciously. In other words we are able
to intentionally retrieve explicit memories but not implicit ones as these may not be traced
specifically to a past event. [Groeger, 1997:65-67]
Experimental psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist Endel Tulving further studied
these ‘enduring memories’ of the past and related them to our episodic memory [a type
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Image 06 - Still from Kaku’s Documentary
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Image 07 -Franco Magnani’s Memory paintings and photographic counterparts
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of explicit memory]. Tulving [in Ibid, 70] originally explained episodic memory to be ‘an
individual’s autobiographical record of past experience’. In a 1993 article he denoted how
‘the information of episodic memory could be said to concern the self’s experiences in
subjective space and time’ as supposed to semantic memory processes which ‘concern
objects and their relations in the world at large’. Further on, despite episodic memory
having ‘evolved out of semantic memory’. Tulving explained it is still dependent on the
ability to store or retrieve information. Hence semantic memory may be understood as a
trigger which can activate an episodic memory to be remembered. [Tulving, 1993:67].
To put this concept into context we can take the character in our story and say that when
our character saw the little girl staring out of the window of the coach at Waterloo Station
this may have acted as a mnemonic moment which subconsciously triggered a previous
memory of our character being in a train coach, staring out of the window at Waterloo
Station. Though it may not have been that exact, it could be said that it was one of
those moments or the combination of them, which the brain interpreted as episodic, or
as pertaining to a previous experience; however the act of recognizing that comparison
is semantic in nature and thus without this semantic process the episodic memory itself
would not have been able to be remembered.
Elaborating on this aspect of remembering, Tulving also observed that the importance
of these memories in relationship to experience was based at their point of recall as
supposed to their point of encoding [the moment when they first occurred] and thus drew
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attention to the difference between ‘remembering’ and ‘knowing’ or as he termed them
‘autonoetic’ and ‘noetic’ awareness [Groeger, 1997:71]. In his 1993 article Tulving [68]
defined noetic awareness as being characterized by a process of ‘retrieval of information
from semantic memory’, and identifies autonoetic awareness as a process that involves
‘expression of procedural knowledge’. Placing these terms into context again, we can
take our character’s memories of the beach. She would have remembered that beaches
have sand; she probably knew the name of the beach she was trying to remember and
perhaps had an image in her head of what that beach looked like. However without her
autonoetic awareness she would not have been able to remember any specific trips to
that or any beach. This is where the fundamental distinction between autonoetic and
noetic awareness lays. Noetic refers primarily to our ability of knowing - knowing that we
have been to a beach before, knowing that most beaches have sand, some palm trees
others have sand dunes perhaps. Whilst autonoetic awareness recognizes our ability to
remember a specific event, like burying yourself in sand and playing with your little brother,
or remembering the feeling of sand between your toes from a previous trip and thus desiring
to do it again. It is essentially the processing of compound information: procedural and
autobiographic, semiotic and episodic; which forms the basis of remembering. It is our
ability to interpret past information, past experience within a present context that instigates
us to remember in the first place. [Groeger, 1997:275-276]
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PART I.4MEMORY:
THROUGH IMAGE
‘When experiencing a work of art, a curious exchange takes place; the work projects its aura, and we
project our own emotions and percepts on the work.’[Pallasmaa, 2005:68]
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Artist Maya Zack’s living rooM installation investigates just this notion of knowing
what was and remembering what used to be. Her artistic interpretation consisted of four
digital three-dimensional prints which hung on each of the four walls of a room within the
Jewish Museum in New York together with a twenty-minute voice over of an individual’s [Mr.
Noam] account on being a Jew in 1930’s Berlin. Zack stated that she wished to ‘reconstruct
something based on someone else’s memory’ so decided to draw on the recollections of
post-war German Jews. With the help of a 3D designer Zack elaborated the three prints to
encompass both ‘real-life items mentioned in Mr. Noam’s narration [of his old apartment] and
inventions of her own in a tableau that speaks to the variety of forms memory can take: clear,
fuzzy, idealized, featureless’. Zack emphasizes how by using 3-D imaging, she was able to
better express the phantasmal property memory has in that it is not something ‘graspable’
[Ibid]. However when Mr. Noam saw the exhibition he wrote to Zack expressing his admiration
for the piece, but also claiming that the images were not at all how he remembered the
apartment to be; to which Zack responded: [Wolff, 2011:AR16]
‘…which is fine. that [is] what it [is] about too. it [is] about his MeMories but
also how he wants to reMeMber things, and Maybe that has nothing to do with the
original apartMent.’
Maya’s installation demonstrates two things in relevance to this study. Firstly it shows how
the things we remember are not necessarily accurate. In this sense the installation showed
how our memory sees things as how it wishes to perceive them thus distorting our awareness
of what we think happened and what actually happened - it demonstrates that we interpret
reality through our memories. Secondly, Maya’s installation takes a step further and makes
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Image 08 - Zack’s Living Room Installation [1 of 4 Perspective Elevations]
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Image 09 - Carless’ Multimedia Images
the spectator part of the process of interpretation by allowing them to see the prints in three-
dimensional space and thus allowing them to interpret the work of art in their own way,
through their own experience of it. It is from these observations that the rest of the study
focuses on – our ability to interpret spatial experience and the ability of an interpreter, in this
case, the architect, to in turn create spaces which can therefore be interpreted themselves all
the while utilizing memory as the subject of interpretation.
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PART I.5MEMORY
INTERPRETED
“I see, I feel, hence I notice, I observe, and I think”
[Barthes, 1981:21]
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Image 10 - Collage on Eco’s Memory
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Image 11 - Collage on the senses
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Image 12 - Collage on architectonic memory
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Image 13 - Collage on Mnemonic Spaces
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Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, Tonia Carless [2011] presents
imaging as a social, anthropological and political interpretative medium of space. She expands on
Henry Lefebvre’s [1991:76] theory on the social context of the production of space where he depicts
how ‘we build on the basis of plans; we buy on the basis of image.’ Carless [2011] attests that
architectural drawings can be more than building-generating plans and sections; she argues instead
that such drawings can be overlapped with other informative media such as spatial analysis diagrams,
panoramas and photomontage in order to produce images which investigate ideas that generate form.
Carless thus contests that drawing/imaging is elemental in the representation and interpretation of
design concepts and the development of the design process itself.
Taking Zack’s and Carless’ points of view on imaging as a form of interpretation as well as representation
Images 9-12 aim to explore collective notions of memory through collage, overlapping references
from Umberto Eco’s book, the Mysterious flaMe of Queen loana along with architectural and literary
references. Image 14 on the other hand, shows a display of mixed media to represent and explore
references in connection to the design project. The different media act mainly as an interpretative
design tool which begin to explore the concept of memory in relation to individual experience - individual
memory [middle and right], and site experience - site memory [left]. The images themselves are open
to be interpreted by the viewer; whilst for the artist in this case they are a form to explore whether the
medium was effective in communicating the idea of memory. The overall outcome reveals that whilst
imaging can be an effective means of representation as well as an effective development tool, a more
focused subject matter needs to be identified in order for the idea to be easily re-interpreted by others.
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Image 14
Image 14 - Display on Place Evoking Memory at Fusion Arts, Oxford
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PART 2.0PLACE
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PART 2.1MEMORY
ANDPLACE
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A particular study carried out in 1979 demonstrates how space can have a
drastic influence on memory [Smith in Groeger, 1997:168-169]. The study gave
80 words to three groups whilst at a particular location. One of the groups who
stayed in that same location was able to recall 23 percent of the words, whilst
those at a much different location recalled 15 percent of the words. Interestingly
the third group, who were placed in a similar environment to that where they
learned the words, remembered 22 percent of these words, nearly as much as the
first group despite being in a different place. This study shows how the impact a
space, be it not the original space where an original event occurred, can influence
the ability of an event to be remembered, consciously or subconsciously.
Further research has gone into observing the frequency at which a memory occurs
implying that the more often a memory occurs the more vivid a particular memory
becomes [Groeger, 1997:119-141]. Other studies also suggest however, that
memory can be a compound process whereby the original event stored can be
added to, becoming an amalgamation of different events, or traces of different
yet similar events into one memory thus distorting the original event [Brewer,
1986 in Tulving, 1993:67 and Hupbach, Gomez, Hardt, et al, 2007:47-53]. In
essence this process is capable of editing or as Hupbach and his team referred
to it, ‘reconsolidate’ a memory depending on where and how it is remembered.
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PART 2.2SPATIALIZING
TIME
‘...space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into
mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality.’
[Minkowski, 1908 in Heyden, 2000:38]
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In contrast to the relatively scientific and empirical understanding of memory
and space as expressed on the previous part of this study, various theoreticians have
recognized a rather phenomenological relationship between space and memory by
placing emphasis on the experience of time itself as supposed to the frequency of
the experience. Artist and writer Victor Burgin for example, reinforces this element of
experience through his study on place, time, and memory. He comes to accept that
‘mental space and social realities are in reality inseparable’. In the introduction to his
book, in/different spaces: place and MeMory in visual culture, Burgin underlines that
one’s ability to experience involves not only a ‘location [as that defined by space] but a
duration; a history’ – time. Sigmund Freud asserts this idea by stating that memory [as
supposed to fantasy] has the ‘tendency to spatialize [sic] time’. Freud further believed
that ‘even the most insignificant sensory impression leaves an unalterable trace, ever
available for resurrection’. This ‘trace inaltérable’ as Freud originally refers to it, is stored
within our memory to the effect that it may become resurrected or re-experienced later
on. This resurgence we can assume will be often triggered by a certain experience
undergone at a certain place, at a certain point in our lives however Freud’s definition of
a memory implies that it is unchangeable or ‘inaltérable’ as he refers to it, but as some
of the studies previously analyzed suggest, memory is often an amalgamation of similar
experiences within our brain. Freud also thought that by understanding how these traces
are able to re-emerge at specific points in our lives he not only offered an insight into a
new form of psychology which identifies who we are and why we are like that, but also an
insight into how we as individuals are able to perceive the spaces we inhabit because of
this – this aspect of Freud’s theory can still be applied today. [Burgin, 1996:28,217]
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‘There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed
and forgetting... In existential mathematics, that experience takes
the form of two basic equations: the degree of slowness is directly
proportional to the intensity of memory; the degree of speed is directly
proportional to the intensity of forgetting.’
[Kundera, 1995 in Counihan, 2008:393]
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In further understanding our relationship with space itself however it is important to
objectify space as something more than just a patch on the ground. It is not until a space
has been subjected to human presence that it becomes present itself. Burgin [1996:32]
takes Henri Lefebvre’s book the production of space and digests its contents to its most
fundamental core - ‘to reject the conception of space as a ‘container without content’. He
then reiterates this comment by asserting that Lefebvre’s theory on space is ‘a product
of human practice’ and so should not be seen without its context or content as it may be.
Lefebvre’s own understanding of space can be back-tracked to the existential theories
of Heidegger. In his earliest work Heidegger became captivated by understanding what
it means to dwell. Jeff Malpas [2008] interprets Heidegger‘s philosophy on being and
presence as both coinciding as one. In other words, space is merely blank until it has
been ‘dwelled’ in. Malpas points out that we still need to enquire into what it means to be
present, to dwell and takes Heidegger’s presumptions on the subject to suggest that it is
insufficient to merely have four walls and a roof in order to have a dwelling, once again,
presence is dependable on everything around it. In his attitude towards the subject it
is not the presence of an object on a space that makes the space inhabited, but rather
how we experience the space and the contents within this space [Malpas, 2008:15]. For
Heidegger [in Ibid], like for Donlyn Lyndon [in Treib, 2009:63], a place is formed once space
has been interfered by the human soul enthralling it of presence through a realm of time.
Hermann Minkowski [1952:75] asserts such co-dependent relationship by reiterating that
‘space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only
a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality’. Furthermore, for Freud,
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Image 15 - Zumthor’s Therme Vals and Klaus Chapel
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space represented the context in which personal experiences transform into memories,
the places to which a specific memory – a specific point in time – can be traced back to. To
Heidegger space signified nothing if without the ability to inhabit it in time. Whilst Freud
was concerned with the past events that occurred in space and in time, Heidegger was
more concerned with our ability to inhabit space in time – any time. Nevertheless their
interpretation of space and time as constituting places of personal experience is intrinsic
to our own personal understanding of place, not just as a space that can be remembered
as Lyndon elucidates, but a place which ‘guide[s] our experiences and emotions’ as
Pallasmaa [http://www.tu-cottbus.de/theoriederarchitektur/wolke/eng/Subjects/071/
Pallasmaa/pallasmaa.htm, 2007] attributes successful architecture to be.
This ‘phenomenology of space’ has been identified only by a few individuals within the field
of architecture specifically though throughout recent years architects like Holl, Pallasmaa,
Aalto amongst a select few others have publicized their interest in the subject [see Holl’s
Questions of perception: phenoMenology of architecture, 2007 and Pallasmaa’s eyes
of the skin: architecture and the senses, 2005]. Peter Zumthor is also amongst these
select architects who appreciate the experiential qualities architecture can pose to the
individual experiencing it. He not only designs to achieve this phenomenology of space
in his architecture but he informs his design through his own experiences. In his book
Thinking Architecture Zumthor allows the reader to see the instances within his own
personal life which inspired the design of his home and studio [Zumthor, 2006].
The architect’s lucid interpretation of his childhood and his past is evident in the way
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in which he depicts memory through spatial narrative – through architecture – and by
his creation of a meaningful, phenomenological space. Zumthor best exemplified this
through his recollection of a specific childhood moment triggered by touching a door
handle. As he flashes back, the handle now is that which he used to hold when going into
his aunt’s garden. He recalls the door handle as being a ‘sign of entry,’ one that allowed
him ‘into a world of different moods and smells.’ He goes on describing the gravel, the
oak staircase, the closing of the front door, and even remembering the feeling of the dark
corridors in contrast to the brightly lit kitchen. Zumthor’s experiential journey through this
space started with the simple grasp of a door handle - one that was definitely not the same
door handle to his aunt’s house but essentially, one that represented the same feeling
which triggered the memory. At the end of his anecdote he proclaims that ‘memories
like these contain the deepest architectural experience […] they are the reservoirs of the
architectural atmospheres and images that [he] explores in [his] work as an architect’
[Zumthor, 2006:7-8]. It is true that one can easily question however if this is a successful
approach to designing buildings which are not intended for the architect’s own use. But
through Zumthor’s other creations, like the deeply sensory therMe vals [Hauser, 2007]
and the solemn Klaus Chapel, it becomes clear that this is Zumthor’s own process of
design; a process which cannot be replicated, but one which can be learnt from.
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PART 2.3CAPTURING
MEMORY
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Image 16 - Stills from a compilation of the Eames’ ‘Idea Films’
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The concept of memory embedded within the experience of space is not alien to
architectural research. Over the last few decades the advances in technology and ease
of access to information has allowed Architecture students to exploit alternative ways
of representing said concept. Film within architecture is often utilized to visualize how
an architectural project may look, such as a fly-through animation depicting the latest
resort to be built in some oil-rich nation. On the other hand, however, film has been a
form of interpreting ideas in relation to architecture and everyday life from as early as the
Eames’ ‘idea films’. Paul Schrader explicates how many of the Eames’ films attempt ‘to
get across and idea’ which allows the viewer to ‘perceive’ an idea in a new way [Ibid].
What this meant at the time the films were released, and is still applicable today, is that
film can be more than a representational tool, but it may also act as an interpretational
tool [Schrader, 1970:2-9].
Referring back to how this medium is being used by architecture students it becomes easier
to comprehend the depth and methodological process that goes into their understanding
of space and how this is therefore inhabited. Nellie Yang’s film reinterpreting spatial
MeMories [http://vimeo.com/8162239, 2010] explores the phenomenological impact that a
place may have upon different individuals by visualizing a collective experience of a place
through a compilation of three-dimensional animation and narrative in a film [Refer to Film
A]. In another example, Joanna Wickham’s MeMory and actuality, perception and dreaM
[See Film B], takes the mnemonic qualities that a specific place, in this case, Motissfont
Abbey, has upon one particular individual and explores these through a figurative film.
Wickham’s uses film ‘as a tool to investigate and understand the nature of how a space
can become influenced by the ways in which the human mind distorts memories, which
can, in turn, create an abstract impression of reality’ [http://www.joannawickham.co.uk/p/
mottisfont-abbey.html, 2011].
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Image 17 - Stills sequence from Yang’s film
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Images 18 + 19 - Still sequence from Wickham’s film
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PART 2.4REMEMBERED
SPACE
Place: ‘a space that can be . remembered.’
[Donlyn Lyndon in Treib, 2009:63],
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The first film [refer to Film C] compiled for this study attempts in its own way to
briefly explore the Eames’ notion of an ‘idea film’ by synthesizing past and present events
in order to project an idea, a thought. Once again the subject matter became Eco’s novel;
however this time the source of Yambo’s anecdote is reinterpreted within the interpreter’s
own reality. This medium differs from the previous medium – the graphical image - in that
instead of representing an idea through an image, a mostly procreated one at times, film
allows the interpreter-film-maker to represent the idea as closely to how it was imagined
as possible. The film in this case aims to partake within ‘real’ physical space and situate
the idea within a specific context and situation in order to illustrate the concept of space
evoking memory. Though the journey in the first film originally pertained to Eco’s main
character, Yambo, as his own journey of discovery as he came nearer and nearer to a
place that held clues to inform who he may be, the objective was changed in the second
film to involve the interpreter’s own journey through the space originally identified in the
first film.
Along with the film-maker’s interpretation, part of the success of this medium is viewer
interpretation. The interpreter-film-maker’s aim puts forward the idea that memory
can be captured and resurrected through the experience of space in a similar way as
Wickham illustrates how space can be equally influenced by our distortion of memories.
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Furthermore, by identifying Nostalgia at the beginning of the first film, a pretence was
set out from which to interpret the rest of the footage. The findings of this film, when
presented to a small group of individuals [see Appendix] demonstrated that the film,
unexpectedly, brought back to mind personal memory within three of the four individuals
– the fourth not presenting this symptom as he had been briefed of the subject matter
informing the film, and thus understood the film as someone else’s story rather than
having his own reaction to the film.
The second film [see Film D] explores the first concept in more depth by interposing
archived footage with the ‘present’ journey footage. The resulting film applies a slightly
different methodology by presenting the viewer with approximate memories [represented
through the archived footage] as they were recalled on the interpreter’s journey through
the site. In essence this not only demonstrates the ability of space - or rather our
experience of space - to re-surge memory as Pallasmaa [2007] denoted in his essay the
space of tiMe, but it also insinuates that the same space can have different impressions
on different individuals, at different circumstances. This pertains to the discussion carried
out throughout this study that elucidates on the presence of interpretative processes
within our experience of places as well as within the creation of these as the next part of
the study will aim to demonstrate.
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Image 20 - Still sequence from Film C: Journey into the Attic
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Image 21 - Still sequence from Film D - Memory Lane
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PART 3.0MEMORY
INSPIRINGSPACE
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PART 3.1ARCHINTERPRETATION
Our understanding of things in the lived world is not a matter of knowing objects but of taking
them for granted. They are there, in our circumspective perception; they are already understood; our relationship to the world is already hermeneutical through and through; we understand things before they
are there as objects for our direct inspection. [Snodgrass and Coyne 2006:39]
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In their book interpretation in architecture: design as a way of thinking [2006:xi],
Adrian Snodgrass and Richard Coyne go against the principle that interpretation within
architecture seems to occur once the building has been finished. Though interpretation
of the physical experience of the place may only be possible this way, they interject that
interpretation is also ‘the means by which architecture is distinguished from mere building’
and it offers ‘a linguistic aspect different from the practice of building’. To Snodgrass and
Coyne interpretation is not just the critique of a building, or an understanding of the
concepts behind the building after it has been built, but to them interpretation is synonym
to design. They see that ‘architecture is at its core interpretational when designers
appear to be making difficult decisions, or more precisely, when they are caught up in
creative practices’; nonetheless they agree in saying that this interpretative ego is often
occluded by historians and critics. [Ibid, 3-5]
In their portrayal of interpretation as a design process Snodgrass and Coyne go through
an extensive historical backlog of what interpretation meant in architectural terms
to various theorists and critics. They revisit Schleiermacher’s view that ‘the goal of
hermeneutics [the study of interpreting] is understanding,’ and see Dilthey’s perception
of interpreting as the ‘position[ing of something] within a set of relationships;’ whilst
semiotician Saussure validates Dilthey’s view by positing architecture as an example of
how ‘everything depends on relations’. [Ibid, 8-9]
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‘She reinterprets the past to give birth to the new, in which the
“new” is not the totally new, and as if created ex nihil, but the
renewed. To remember interpretively is to renew the past in the
present, and to cast forth, project it into the future.’
[Snodgrass + Coyne, 2006:140-141]
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This idea that ‘everything depends on relations’ specifically, can be best understood
within our own personal relationship with interpretation. Snodgrass and Coyne posit
the idea that ‘our interpretation of experiences modifies our perception of the past
and our anticipations of the future; and our understanding of the past and the future
forms the context in which we interpret experiences’. They continue by exclaiming that
‘understanding and experience are in constant interaction’. By this deduction of our lived
lives being understood through previous experiences abiding constant interpretation, we
can revisit the concept of memory, and how remembering becomes a semi-conscious
method of interpretation, of seeing our past lives in relation to our present ones. [Ibid, 44]
Snodgrass and Coyne exemplify this past-present relationship by using Greek mythology.
They take Clio, the muse of history, whose mother is Memory, and observe her ability
to embody memory by means of re-enacting and re-citing dramas of the past, this act
they say, involves a certain amount of judgement on her part. Her ability to look back
also allows her to interpret the past in a certain way that she is able to have insight in the
present, and this allows her to foresee the future. [Ibid, 140-141]
It is hence within this interpretative process that lays the importance of this study.
Particularly within our ability to ‘re-experience’ the past and form a new experience from
this in the present as this information is highly influential when we come to experience
and design new spaces and places.
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PART 3.2CONTEXTUALIZING
PLACE
‘...it [is] all about creating one night that will create a lasting impression for the rest of their
lives - creating a memory that people will never forget.’
[introducing discotecture, 2012]
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In his book the poetics of space, Gaston Bachelard introduces an approach
to the ‘localization’ of our memories he called, topoanalysis. Bachelard’s intention
for Topoanalysis was to aid the psychoanalytical mind in suggesting a ‘systematic
psychological study of the sites of our intimate lives’ as he believed that certain places
held memories which even our minds would normally have forgotten; or at least
hidden deep within the brain just like a child could hide within the nooks and corridors
of a house Like in the example, Bachelard sought the home to be the premise in
which our most vivid and personal memories were housed. [Bachelard, 1994:8-9]
The idea of site in regards to this study is crucial as what the study is trying to
demonstrate depends on the mnemonic properties of the site itself. The nature
of the study so far has been very subjective and personal, and so the first obvious
option, as insinuated by Bachelard’s study would be the home. Except that the
study would then concentrate on one person’s interpretation, and allow very little
interpretation from an outside perspective. So far the subjectiveness of the study has
been attributed to providing the viewer one possible perspective out of many others.
Hence a location which is less specific to one person and more personable to many
would mean for a better rounded study.
In contemplating the notion of memory, it is often specific events that emerge on
one’s mind. Bernard Tschumi [1996:136] affirms this idea very simply by saying
that ‘there is no space without event’. Likewise there is no event without space and
so trying to put forward a project within a space that mostly everyone has had a
personal rapport with - a sort of collective memory without necessarily being specific
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to one event - would mean a project which most people could relate to and therefore
accrue their own understanding of, perhaps even develop their own rapport with -
hypothetically at least.
The site itself also needed to be an existing site, one where there already was a
collective memory of the sorts present, and which at the same time one would find
themselves in without necessarily intending to get anything out of it; one where memory
could perhaps happen spontaneously. The requirement list for such site was exigent,
nonetheless it was through the same methodologies which are investigated within
this study that the site surged. Waterloo Rail Station [WRS] emerged as a result of
converged experiences; similar experiences to which the study wishes to re-interpret
spatially and which has investigated throughout. These converged experiences as
illustrated by films such as Brief Encounter [Dir. Lean, 1945] and 2046 [Dir. Wai
Wong, 2004] where the train journeys and the station itself become part of individual
memories, which in turn creates links amongst its characters. It could be said that
this in turn, forms a collective memory amongst the individuals of not necessarily an
event, but of a place in which events are encoded and remembered.
The next step meant finding the right location within WRS, and through a combination
of spatial syntax analysis and photographic sharing of experiences [flickr
community] the Vaults beneath the railways of Waterloo Station presented the perfect
inconspicuous yet meandering space for the study to be contextualized in.
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Image 22 - Stills from Brief Encounter [B+W] and 2046 [Colour]
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Initially, the aim of the design project sought to demonstrate how the concept of
place-making could be reinterpreted through memory. More specifically it pursued
to create a design project which exposed how the mnemonic qualities of space
and our experience of space could be used to influence the design process itself.
Accordingly, the research carried out throughout the study, be it a conceptual image
or an exploratory film, has served as constructive means to the understanding of
how a place may evoke memory. Consequently, having established the site for
the proposed project, the subsequent images concentrate on representing and
interpreting how these findings, along with site-specific investigations, were utilized in
order to create a sequence of rooms which amalgamate the notion of experiencing a
space through old memories and creating - or rather re-consolidating - new memories
along the way. The resulting spaces are represented through images created using
three-dimensional modelling software and post-editing so as to emphasize the
‘placeness’ captured within each tunnel. Though it can be argued that digital media
may sterilize images representing space, these images are presented to the viewer
to be interpreted at their own discretion for them to see what they wish to see. The
images are juxtaposed against the more phenomenological demeanour of the design
project as denoted by the original character’s personal encounters to the space -
offering the viewer a counter-perspective to compare to their own interpretation of the
images.. The final story depicts the design outcome as it is seen from the character’s
own perspective and doing so it takes you through her own interpretative process of
her experience through each space.
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LOWImage 23 - Arches around WRS
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Diagrammatic site analysis has been implemented to
represent: 1. Areas of interest around WRS [Image 25]
identified by spatial syntax analysis exploring journeys
taken to and from the station [Image 26].
One specific journey [the main character’s] once within
the station is represented chronologically in Image 24.
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Image 24 - Character’s Journey at WRS
Arrival
09:08
09:10
09:13
09:21
09:17
09:28
Departure
0 50 100 200m
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Image 25 - Spatial dynamics within WRS periphery
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0 50 100 200m
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Image 26 - Common journey paths to/from WRSLOW HIGH
0 50 100 200m
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Image 27 - Contextual photomontage of the Old Vic Tunnels
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Upon further investigation using networking sites along
with on-site and off-site research of Waterloo Station, the
suggestion of the Old Vic Tunnels below the tracks of
WRS presented itself as a considerably underdeveloped
opportunity which also offered its own story. Presently
the site serves as temporary exhibition and events space
which to an extent exploits the idea of collective memory.
However its connection with WRS when location is
disregarded, has been previously overlooked and
currently attracts underground crowds or curious voyeurs
rather than expectant travellers.
Image 28 - Diagrams exploring journeys within the tunnels
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In creating a connection between WRS and the Old Vic Tunnels the
notion of mnemonic journeys was explored even further. The proposed
layout integrates landscapes from journeys out of Waterloo into the
design, such as the Waterloo-to-Portsmouth Harbour service running
which takes you from the centre of London into the South coast in less
than two-hours. The landscapes are themselves re-interpreted within
a different tunnel respectively offering visitors both a semiotic and a
phenomenological connection with the site allowing them to recall and
create memories depending on their reaction to the site.
Dep
art
09:3
0
09:3
6
09:3
3
10:0
2
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10:2
6
10.5
2
11:0
7
Arr
ive
Image 29 - Waterloo - Portsmouth Harbour Chronology
Water Tunnel
Meadow Tunnel
Intermediate Tunnel
Footbridge
0 5 10 20m
Entrance B
Entrance A
Entrance C
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Image 30 - Colour-fade entrance through footbridge inspired by being on a train
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Image 31 - Footbridge
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Interactive screens connect with the visitor’s
android to keep them aware of their train and help track their journey.
Image 32 - Incorporating technology to the journey of experience
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The CCTV Tunnel uses CCTV footage displaced around the room with reflective mirrors to give the impression of being at the Waterloo concourse
Image 33 - CCTV Tunnel
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Image 34 - Meadow Tunnel [Garden at Winter + Spring]
Mostly taking inspiration from David Hockney’s latest work referencing the English countryside through film,
the Meadow Tunnel consists of two compartments - the garden and the meadow. The arches have been opened
up to see the trains passing by and the sky above.
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Image 35 - The Intermediate Tunnel’s interior changes with a different architect or artist’s intervention
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Image 36 - Water Tunnel + Precedents
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The proposed Old Vic Tunnels can be entered and exited through the underground tunnels from
any Platform, or from two other off-street entrances. The Platform entrance [the Footbridge]
takes you down through all the tunnels in a suspended footbridge encapsulated in a cylinder of
curved frosted glass panels, these try to reference thoughts when you are in a train coach and
sometimes unaware of your surroundings. Once at ground level interactive welcome screens
offer guidance to the visitor while a footpath which runs throughout the tunnels helps you direct
yourself. Though there is a path to follow, the visitor is encouraged to go off-route and explore
the installations as they are user-oriented. Each tunnel is inspired by scenes and memories of
train journeys, specifically those to the South coast. Other references are made to architectural
and non-architectural projects which have been re-interpreted in some way or another to fit the
context and concept of the project.
The overall architectonics pay attention to the form of the tunnels and seek to take advantage
of these, whether by opening a tunnel up so that the sky and passing trains are visible from
underneath, or by filling one of the tunnels with water so that when a train drives by the noise
and sensation of the train ripple throughout the tunnel.
Other tunnels make themselves open for interpretation by other artists who can take the concept
of Journeys and memory-inspiring-space to create an installation suitable to that tunnel as the
Tomas Saraceno cloud installation [2011] has been re-worked to suit a night landscape within
the tunnel.
The intervention provides a phenomenological space for the re-collection, the re-consolidation,
and the encoding of memories. Congruently, one of the tunnels has been set up to archive
these journeys for those who are interested in returning and re-experiencing the place. This
archive works to each individual’s own discretion and can store any mememto, piece of writing
or thought physically or digitally. One of the aims here is to allow the visitor to become even
more aware of the effect of the technology that surrounds them by tracking their journeys
through an everyday aide-MéMoire - our android phones. Consequently this also poses the
question of whether this digital-physical relationship enhances or detriments the experience of
the place. A question left open to interpretation throughout the scheme.
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At the beginning and end of their journey visitors can access the archive inspired by Ando’s refurbishment of Venice’s art centre [left] and NHDM Multimedia Centre in Korea [centre].
Image 37 - Mementos from a visitor’s journey can be stored for future recall
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PART 3.3WAITING
FORTRAINS
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6 April 2012, 10:06 a.m.:
Along with possibly half of London, I found myself aimlessly waiting around for a delayed train at
Waterloo Station. Of all the days to travel on, I had to choose Good Friday on Easter weekend.
Somehow, I reassured myself that the prospect of heading to the country for a weekend of relaxation
seemed too tempting to let pass by and so I decided not to allow such minor inconvenience
spoil my journey. After the way I had been feeling the past few months before that, including
the pressure of the Christmas holidays which each year seem to become progressively less
enjoyable in comparison to how they once were, it seemed like a four-day weekend away from all
the chaos of the city would be just what the doctor ordered. So with my newly-found disposition I
strode about the station coolly trying to find ways to kill my time all the while avoiding meticulously
going into any of the shops or cafes.
As it was to be expected, these were just gushing with understandably anxious passengers all
gearing up for their long journeys. As I stared into these shops with nothing else to do I noticed
many coming out of W.H. Smith’s with their newspaper and free bottle of water, whilst others opted
for a little carrier bag from Marks & Spencer with some seemingly luscious nibbles. The smells
around particular areas of the station – freshly brewed coffee, steaming pasties and scrumptious
sugary doughnuts - were thoroughly warming despite being a peculiarly clear and snug morning
already. They made me think about how much they just eluded being in a train station, a feeling I
often take for granted but which in fact forms part of the charm of travelling by train.
Despite this sudden rush of nostalgia, today I wished to avoid the crowded commerce around
me and so I decided to wait for the train on the platform whilst reading the book I was hoping to
finish by the end of this oh so relaxing weekend – or so I hoped. It then occurred to me that my
expectations for this one weekend were particularly high, but I guess with such hectic lifestyles it
is the small periods of time which you can manage to squeeze some life out of that justify the only
reason why one would work so tirelessly the rest of the time. After managing to find an empty
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space to drop my weekend bag I settled myself down to read my book not too far from the end of
the platform near to one of those tunnels that go down to the Underground. Only seconds passed
by before I got distracted by people heading down to the Underground – except when I turned
around to nosily inspect the passers by, leisurely making their way down this tunnel I noticed a
sign that read: ‘Towards Old Vic Tunnels’. I decided to shrug that piece of information off, or at
least tried to, I guess my dismal boredom kept wondering about how much longer the wait would
be – I vaguely remembered the departures board saying it would be another half hour. Having
carefully debated the idea in my head I decided to go down through the tunnel and check out what
this place was.
At the bottom of the steps it all looked like a passage way to the underground, I followed the sign
towards the Old Vic Tunnels again and shortly after I arrived at a crossways – it was obvious
that the other platforms came to this point too. Aware of the time I headed down the path that
looked different from the rest. The passage here was more cylindrical in shape. I noticed the
floor changed and all of a sudden I was on what seemed some sort of suspended steel ramp
with a perforated floor so that you were able to see below. I remember thinking there was an
underground tunnel which looked very similar to this in that you could see through the sides into
the rail tracks below. I briefly recalled a night out with Emma where we saw the tube rushing in
through the gap as we quite comically legged it to catch it since it was the last tube home. This
footbridge of the sorts however, did not have a track running beneath it, the brick on the walls
appeared distorted as water dripped out of a small gap through and down the wall. The gap was
so small it almost seemed like the brick had just torn apart to reveal a cascading wall exuding
from it. The slight moisture of the air and mist below made me assume it was water beneath
the footbridge, the lighting was quite low as we were underground for me to discern otherwise.
I thought to myself ‘Is this it? Is this the tunnel?’, but as I peered through the corner I could
see the footpath just meandering downwards through a series of what appeared to be arches
with curved-frosted-glass panels in between creating a continuous cylindrical tunnel. I made my
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Image 38 - Footbridge
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Image 39 - Welcome screens
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way down the sloping footbridge all the while trying to see out of these frosted sections only to
make out slight silhouettes and a prism of colour changing so slowly you could barely notice the
alteration. I have to admit the whole thing made you feel intrigued yet slightly precarious as you
are unable to discern what lied beyond this tunnel. Somehow when going down similar tunnels
to the Underground you don’t think about what lies behind those solid walls – you assume it is
compacted earth and rubble - but in some way, being able to know there is something else beyond
these walls triggered these feelings.
As I neared the end of the footbridge, I could start to make out what appeared to be plasma
screens suspended through tension strings. There were not many people around this part. A
couple passed me earlier but I assumed they already knew what was down here as they walked
by with an air of confidence as to where they were heading. Upon reaching the screens, my eyes
began to investigate the interactive display in an attempt to figure out what this place was. The
screens displayed an moving plan with different arrows leading you through various directions. It
appeared as though there could be different ways you could explore this place. I noticed a QR
code and an area just above it where it indicated me to touch the screen and choose whether it
was my first visit or a returning visit. So I pushed my index finger against the are of the screen
that displayed ‘First Visit’ and it proceeded to ask me whether I needed to catch a train, and then
presented me with on-screen options to choose which train. I pressed my train which still showed
a half-hour delay and the next screen instructed me to enter a date when I was last at Waterloo
Station and a time margin. I pondered for a few seconds before the 11th of November crept into
my head. I remembered that was the day I went down to Portsmouth for some time to clear my
head. I also recalled I was at the station in the morning so I entered between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00
a.m. Without even considering the implications of giving the date to a computer I entered ’11-11-
11’ then ‘09:00-11:00’. The screen next instructed me to scan the QR code so I did. I thought for
a second ‘what if I didn’t have a smart phone?’ I immediately let out a ridiculous sigh retorically
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telling myself off, ‘why how absurd of me, it is the twenty-first century, who does not have a smart
phone these days?!’ As I kept reading the screen it pointed you towards the wall behind where you
could rent out a similar device and then I did not feel so foolish, though in some way I suppose a
part of me felt overwhelmed by the sudden realization that we all have access to so many things
often at just the push of a button without even considering the implications of this. Just like the
thought came, it went and I continued reading the interactive screen which now indicated me to
follow the path and scan the QR codes I saw along the way thus tracking my journey through the
place. In quite a big font it noted that I was free to enjoy the experience as I pleased and then it
went back to its welcome screen.
Previously unaware of what was occurring around me I now found myself in this tunnel full of
arches, one after the other, similar to those around the footbridge but less claustrophobic. This
was a tunnel full of them, the roof vaulted as well. Amongst these arches were towers of shelves,
it looked like some sort of postal office box room, only much nicer and comfortable. I noticed
the couple which passed me earlier as they were taking out a box from one of the shelves, I felt
inclined to do the same but they had a code to open them. Curious as to see what was in the box,
my phone decided to go off, on the screen a notice popped up saying my train had now been
delayed a further fifteen minutes, which meant I now had about forty minutes to go around this
place, so I set off, leaving the couple and their box behind me.
Past more arches, and more towers full of boxes and even more arches I came through to a
rather chaotic room - in comparison to the ordered and elegant chamber which I had just been in.
The tunnel was full of screens and what appeared to be mirrors replicating what was displayed
on the screens, I noticed a QR code on the wall next to me and I scanned it. The screens and
consequently the reflected images changed. They divulged what appeared to be CCTV footage
of Waterloo Station. The main screens displayed different angles, some zoomed in others with
wider views of the station, some where playing at a faster pace than others, it was almost like
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Image 40 - Archive Tunnel
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Image 41 - CCTV Tunnel
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seeing David Hockney’s Woldgate Woods films [exhibited at the Royal Academy, 2012] only with
CCTV clips instead of footage from the woods. As I stared into the screens, my eyes spotted a
young woman wearing a rain-coat very similar to one I owned, as the woman starts to appear
closer on other screens I realised then it was me. Slightly perplexed, and honestly even more
intrigued I moved towards the next tunnel not before going through what felt like a room full of
people [being reflected through mirrors] and other reflections of myself amongst them, like a very
packed station at peak morning. The next tunnel is a complete contrast yet again; much more
expansive than the previous tunnels, you could now make out the form of the tunnel but what
seems most imposing in comparison to the previous tunnel is the trees, the flowers, and the
light; hollows between the arches give away glimpses of sky and light gleaming through. Just
as I stared into the serenity of this meadow-like environment a train dashes by above the arched
structure, allowing me to get a quick look of it, reminding me I was still in the middle of the city. I
often find garden-like spaces very appeasing, almost Eden-like, this was no exception. The whole
place was full of spring yellows and greens, I wanted to stay here and sit under one of the cherry
blossoms, which had just begun to bloom. Seeing this made me feel even more excited about
heading out to the country – in a way it was like a little piece of the countryside in the middle of
the city.
As I left the pseudo-meadow tunnel I noticed another QR code so I scanned it. The next tunnel
was much different again, it was darker however a whole constellation of stars seemed to be
projected throughout its vaulted ceiling. It did give you the impression that it was night time and
you were still outside. More striking however, were the inflatable bubbles which seemed to be
tied down to the ground so that they would not float away. I’m sure this was just for their stability
but it was quite a superficial environment. I noticed some people inside the baubles and feeling
quite adventurous already I launched myself into one of them. Once in the interior of these rather
fantastical and bouncy bubbles I laid down and stared up at the artificial night sky. In my head
the experience was quite incomparable, though when I tried, visions of my head poking out of a
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Image 42 - Meadow Tunnel
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Image 43 - Tomas Saraceno’s Cloud Tunnel
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tent at night came to mind. I remembered then the yearly family trips to South Wales and how
on one specific night Gaby, my younger brother Jacques, and I would lay down with our heads
poking out of the tent, because it was otherwise too cold to be outside, looking up at the night
sky trying to make out fatuous names for star formation we had no clue whether they were actual
constellations. As I laid there enjoying remembering those camping trips my phone buzzed again
letting me know I had ten minutes before my train was due. It suggested I find my way back to the
archive tunnel, I realised then what the Post Office box room was and though I really wanted to
see more of this enchanting and quite thought-provoking place, I scanned the QR code by the exit
of the tunnel and made my way back to archive tunnel; this time taking a more direct route which
went back through the previous tunnels but in a straight line.
At the end of the route there were more screens, surprised I had not seen them before, I inspected
them closely and noticed they had more instructions on them. I scanned the QR code on one of
the screens as directed and got a code delivered to my phone which I then entered onto one of
the touch-screens as requested. A message appeared soon after confirming my journey would be
saved for my next visit and to keep my code safe as that was my Personal Identification Number.
Another message appeared on a different screen reading:
Enjoyed your journey?
We hope the place has provoked some sort of reaction in you.
We recommend you use one of the empty archiboxes to store a memento from your
journey and that you insert another one on your next visit. Just scan the QR code on
an empty box and a combination number will be sent to your phone.
[small print followed, but I ignored that]
Being weary of the time, but also captivated by the concept seeing the couple doing the same thing
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previously, I quickly grabbed a box and did as suggested. As I scavenged my pockets for some
piece of paper to write something on about my experience I meticulously felt a crumpled piece of
paper, I carefully pulled it out of my pocket upon realizing it was the same crumpled piece of paper
with sand inside it which I had coincidentally left there since my trip to Portsmouth. I pulled it out
of my pocket and emptied the sand into the box. In doing so I realised then that this whole journey
started with that trip to the beach – my phone went off again noting I had five minutes left before
my train departed. I hazily closed the box and jolted back through the meandering footbridge and
up to the platform managing to catch my train just in time.
As I sat on the train, looking out of the window, I tried to piece together what that place had just
done to me. It did not have anything really out of the ordinary, just a sequence of different tunnels,
one after another. Nonetheless, after indulging myself on even more memories of those camping
trips, I could not help but wonder what was the purpose behind that place, I suppose art does not
need a purpose, though somehow this place did not feel like art per sé. Even some installations
have a purpose. As I looked back at my experience and the various feelings that each tunnel
brought back, some familiar others completely heterogeneous, I could not help but wonder what
other people thought of the place? Like the couple that passed me by who had obviously been
there before, whether it was different the second time around? I mean it must have been, places
are rarely the same the second time around. I wondered whether it too, had re-surged memories
for them? And then it hit me, perhaps it was just a place that allowed you to escape the chaos
of the city, to look back on your journeys, after all each tunnel seemed to reference a real place.
For me at least, it became apparent how gratifying it was to find myself somewhere where I
could bring my thoughts with me and find solace in them as opposed to finding them a burden,
a heavy weight that lays on me at times wondering why life is not like this anymore. In a certain
way it allowed me to re-experience, in a completely different way, some of my old memories, and
perhaps that was enough.
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Image 44 - Contemplating the past
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POSTSCRIPT
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From the beginning of this study it was clear that whatever the outcome, there would
always be a sense of subjectivity present. In a way, the story which runs throughout
aims to provide one perspective and in doing so assumes that many others are possible,
including ones that may disagree with the whole or aspects of the study. In this way the
rest of the project attempted to put forward a thorough definition and explanation of each
component of the research. Be it through Tulving’s differentiation of what it is to know
and what it is to remember; and as demonstrated by contrasting studies denoting the
relationship between memory and time and its effect on what we remember; or through
the indefinite understanding of space and place amongst theoreticians and practitioners
like Heidegger, Bachelard, Freud, Pallasmaa, Holl and Zumthor who despite differing
on the impact that experiencing space has on us, agree in identifying our ability to
experience space alone intrinsic to our way of being. Ultimately, the task of interpreting
was not only intended to be done by the architect creating the design project, or the
character experiencing the space in the story, but also by the reader of the study being
able to place themselves within the process and outcome of the overall project.
Having presented the reader with such information, the focus of this study posed to
demonstrate how an architect could interpret the concept of place-making through notions
of memory in order to create a phenomenological experience of space by investigating
the mnemonic properties of a specific place. In this respect the study has taken rather
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personal experiences and translated them into a context which can be identifiable by
many. Waterloo Rail Station holds not only its own history, but many other people’s
histories thus creating a collective link for many who visit the station and for those
who read this study. Such histories may often manifest themselves through individual
memories and so the design outcome wished to identify common parameters in people’s
memories of waterloo. Through anecdotes [some depicted in the stories other carried
out off the page] common journeys emerged which along with the methodological study
using imaging and film media, aided the architect in informing the design outcome. It
could be concluded that memory in reference to this project was not only the concept
behind the project, but also the interpretative tool throughout the inception, development
and execution of the design project. In the end, as this study and Zack’s artistic installation
have demonstrated, it is not the outcome that matters, but the experience of the outcome
that pertains. As such, the architect does not solely design for beauty, but is in herself a
medium of interpretation.
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‘When I am asked what I believe in, I say that I believe in architecture.
Architecture is the mother of the arts. I like to believe that architecture connects the present with the past and the
tangible with the intangible.’
[Meier, 1984]
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The researcher’s short-film Journey to the Attic was contested by four candidates who were
individually asked to carefully observe the motion picture. Once they had seen the short-film
they were asked to 1. Verbally describe what they saw 2. What they thought about particular
aspects of the film and 3. What they understood the idea behind the film to be.
Candidate A :
1. I remember a house, the sun coming through some woods, and some statue.
2. The introduction says it’s about Nostalgia - I don’t understand what the black outs are,
but the black and white scenes give the illusion that they were set in the past. It all seems
to be about going somewhere - the house, is that the one where he [Yambo] is going - his
childhood house perhaps? [This candidate was informed of the subject of the film and so had
a preconception of the story and idea of the film which may not have shown the best results
of the research]
3. Think it is a memory being revisited - because of the tint it’s like Sepia and the introduction
Candidate B :
1./2. I remember seeing a path, trees and it was all leading to a house - the loan reminded me
of playing in my garden, Mom was telling me about some flowers - she was gardening - and I
was grasping them between my feet. Zooming into the window - I couldn’t make out whether
it was haunting or maybe a happy memory?
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APPENDIX 3. The way in which it was lit made me think it was all a memory - some of the jumpiness
maybe meant that there were some unremembered memories. It all seemed like it was going
back in time - to childhood.
Candidate C :
1./2. The beginning is a bit creepy, the black and white reminds me of being
haunted, and the rhythmic flashing it’s creepy too. The bit in the carpark
reminds me of playing on the driveway of a friend’s house with my bike.
The cherubs are slightly scary - but they reminded me of making mud pies - on a bird bath.
3. Is it trying to make you remember something? It is very creepy at times but the Sepia also
makes it like it’s a memory, and the black and white suggested that maybe parts of it were in
the past?
Candidate D:
1. I remember seeing a house, statue...No, fountain, a path, some trees, and glare - there
seemed to be a bit of glare here and there.
2. Well it was quite jumpy which made me think of when you can’t remember a whole memory
- but bits are missing. The black and white bits were old, and the others were new. The
zooming at the end was a special room maybe? -Yes the attic - oh maybe stored memories.
3. The introduction helped set the context. It was useful.
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TEXT :
Anderson, B. [2012] ‘Jolie film shows horrors of Bosnian war’ in cnn: connect the world. [Online] Available at: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/02/14/ctw-pkg-anderson-angelina-jolie-new-film-in-the-land-of-blood-and-honey.cnn. [Last Accessed: 23 April 2012]
Bachelard, G. [1994] the poetics of space. Trans. by M. Jolas. Boston: Beacon Press.
Barthes, R. [1981] caMera lucida: reflections on photography. Trans. by R. Howard. New York: Hill and Wang.
Burgin, V. [1996] In/Different Spaces: Place and memory in visual culture. California: University of California Press.
Carless, T. [2011] drawing as a discourse. [Unpublished Lecture] Oxford: Oxford Brookes University.
Counihan, C. and Van Esterik, P. [eds.] [2008] food + culture: a reader. [2nd ed] New York: Routledge.
Eco, U. [2005] the Mysterious flaMe of Queen loana. London: Secker + Warbourg.
Groeger, A. [1997] MeMory + reMeMbering: everyday MeMory in context. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc.
Holl, S., Pallasmaa, J., and Perez-Gomez, A. [2007] Questions of perception: phenoMenology of architecture. California: University of California Press.
Houser, S. [1984]. peter ZuMthor: therMe vals. Translated by Lum, K. And Schelbert, C. Zurich: Verlag Scheideggr + Spiess.
Hupbach, A., Gomez, R., Hardt, O., et al. [2007] Reconsolidation of Episodic Memories: A subtle reminder triggers integration of new information in cold spring harbor laboratory press. [Online] Available at: http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/lm.365707. [Last Accessed: 23 April 2012]
Hutcheon, L. [1998] Irony, ‘Nostalgia, and the Post-modern’ in the university of toronto english library [Online]. Available at: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/criticism/hutchinp.html [Last accessed: 19 Dec 2011]
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Krakovsky, M. [2010]. Nostalgia: Sweet Remembrance, in psychology today [Online]. Available at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200605/nostalgia-sweet-remembrance [Last accessed: 25 Nov. 2011]
Kuma, K. [2008] anti-object. Trans. by H. Watanabi. London: Architectural Association.
Lefebvre, H. [1991]. ‘Social Space’ and ‘Spatial Architectonics’ in the production of space. Oxford: Blackwell. 69-228.
Malpas, J. [2008] Heidegger’s Topology: Being, Place, World. Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Lorentz, H., Einstein, A., Minkowski, H., et al. [1952]. ‘Space and Time’ in the principle of relativity: a collection of original MeMoirs on the special and general theory of relativity. New York: Dover Publications. 75-91.
Moran, D. [2000] Introduction to phenoMenology. [8th ed.] Oxon: Routledge.
Pallasmaa, J. [2007]. ‘The Space of Time: mental time in architecture’ in wolkenkuckucksheiM. Vol. 12:1. [Online] Available at: http://www.tu-cottbus.de/theoriederarchitektur/wolke/eng/Subjects/071/Pallasmaa/pallasmaa.htm [Last accessed: 17 Nov.. 2011]
Pallasmaa, J. [2000] ‘Hapticity and Time’ in The architectural review. [May Ed.] [Online] Available at: http://iris.nyit.edu/~rcody/Thesis/Readings/Pallasmaa%20-%20Hapticity%20and%20Time.pdf [Last Accessed: 18 Dec. 2011]
Pallasmaa, J. [2005] the eyes of the skin: architecture and the senses. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Proust, M. [1982] ‘Swann’s Way: Within a Budding Grove,’ in: ReMeMbrance of things past. [The definitive French Pleiade ed] Trans. by Scott Moncrieff C.K. and Kilmartin, T. New York: Vintage. Vol. 1:48-51.
Savage, C. [1964] Nostalgia in Alain-Fournier and Proust, in the french review. Vol. 38:2:167-172. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/385210 [Last accessed 17 Nov.. 2011]
Schrader, P. [Spring, 1970]. ‘Poetry of Ideas: The films of Charles Eames’ in filM Quarterly. Vol. 23:3:2-19.
REFERENCES
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Snodgrass, A. and Coyne, R. [2006] interpretation in architecture: design as a way of thinking. Oxon: Routledge.
St. John Wilson, C. [2007] the other tradition of Modern architecture: the uncoMpleted project. London: Black Dog Publishing.
Tulving, E. [1993] ‘What is Episodic Memory?’ in current directions in psychological science. 2:3:67-70.
Treib, M. [ed.] [2009] spatial recall: MeMory in architecture and landscape. Oxon: Routledge.
Tschumi, B. [1996] ‘Spaces and Events’ in architecture and disjunction. Massachusetts: MIT Press. 141-152.
Wolff, R. [2011]. ‘Rooms Furnished with Memories’ in the new york tiMes. August 7, AR16.
Zumthor, P. [2006] thinking architecture. 2nd ed. Trans. by Oberli-Turner, M. Basel: Birkhouser.
FILM :
Introducing Discotecture [2012] [Documentary] Vice
Kaku, M. [Presenter] [2001] tiMe: lifetiMe. [Documentary] London: BBC Worldwide Ltd.
Lean, D. [Director] [1945] brief encounter. [Film] Cineguild.
Wai Wong, K. [Director] [2004] 2046. [Film] Hong Kong: Jet Tone Films.
Wickham, J. [Director] [2011] MeMory and actuality, perception and dreaM. [Online Video] Available at: http://www.joannawickham.co.uk/p/mottisfont-abbey.html. [Last Accessed: 23 April 2012]
Yang, N. [Director] [2010] reinterpreting spatial MeMory. [Online Video] Available at: http://vimeo.com/8162239. [Last Accessed: 23 April 2012]
OTHER:
Hockney, D. [2012] ‘Woldgate Woods’ films in the bigger picture. [Exhibition] London: Royal Academy.
Saraceno, T. [2011] cloud cities at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. [Installation] Berlin: Museum Für Gegenwart.
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IMAGECREDITS
Cover Image – By Author. [2012] looking back. [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
Image 1 – By Author. [2012] reMeMbering deer. [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
Image 2 – From Left to Right:McKie, H. [1948] waterloo at war and peace -1848 [Illustration] holiday Makers at waterloo [1946] [Photograph] Cuneo, T. [1967] waterloo station [painting] Appleby, T. [2007] waterloo station - concourse viewed froM gantry. [Photograph]
Image 3 – B+W: passengers at holyhead station [c.1909] [Photograph] Colour: Appleby, T. [2007] waterloo station - platforM 3. [Photograph]
Image 4 - By Author. [2012] sand between My toes. [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
Image 5 - By Author. [2012] MeMories of sunsets. [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
Image 6 - Still from Kaku’s Documentary: tiMe: lifetiMe [2010] BBC Worldwide Ltd.
Image 7 - Arch - Magnani, F. [c.1984] view through the caMpanile .[Painting]Arch - Schwartzenberg, S. [1987] view through the caMpanile. [Photograph]Hill - Magnani, F. [n.d] village on the hill. [Painting]Hll - Swartzenberg, S. [1987] village on the hill. [Photograph]Steps - Magnani, F. [c.1986] Magnani house front steps. [Painting]Steps - Swartzenberg, S. [1987] Magnani house front steps. [Photograph]
Image 8 - Zack, M. [2009] Detail of Living Room No. 2. [Anaglyph 3D Print]
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Image 9 - Carless, T. [n.d] Multimedia Images [Various Media] From 2011 Lecture at Oxford Brookes University.
Image 10 - By Author. [2011] eco’s kitchen. [Collage] Personal Collection. Image 11 – By Author. [2011] pallasMaa’s senses. [Collage] Personal Collection.
Image 12 – By Author. [2011] lautner vs. van der rohe. [Collage] Personal Collection.
Image 13 – By Author. [2011] MeMory inspiring spaces. [Collage] Personal Collection.
Image 14 - By Author [2012] exhibition at fusion arts [Mixed Media] Personal Collection.
Image 15 - Sepia: Interior of Zumthor’s klaus chapel. [n.d.] [Photograph] B + W: Zumthor’s Passage at therMe vals. [n.d] [Photograph]
Image 16 - Eames, C. and Eames, R. [1955-1972] Stills of The Eames’ varying ‘idea’ films [Film Stills]
Image 17 – Yang, N. J. [2010] reinterpreting spatial MeMory. [Still Sequence by Author]
Images 18 + 19 – Wickham, J. [2011] Memory and Actuality, Perception and Dream. [Still Sequence by Author]
Image 20 - By Author [2012] journey into the attic [Still Sequence] Personal Collection.
Image 21 - By Author [2012] MeMory lane [Still Sequence] Personal Collection.
Image 22 - B+W: Still from film brief encounter. [1945] [Stil Composition by Author] Colour: Still from film 2046. [2004] [Still Composition by Author] Personal Collection.
Image 23 - By Author. [2012] Arches around Waterloo Station. [Photographs] Personal Collection.
Image 24 - By Author. [2012] Graphic Timeline of Character’s Journey within Waterloo Station. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 25 - By Author. [2012] Graphic Timeline of Character’s Journey around Waterloo Station. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 26 - By Author. [2012] Spatial Syntax Diagram o common jouney paths to/from Waterloo Station [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
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Image 27 - By Author. [2012] Internal shots of The Old Vic Tunnels [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
Image 28 - By Author. [2012] Diagrams illustrating journeys within the Tunnels [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 29 - By Author. [2012] Timeline and Plan illustrating the influence of the journeys to and from Waterloo Station on the design. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 30 - Coloured:By Author [2012] Multi-coloured renderings of Footbridge into The Old Vic Tunnels.[Reprographic] Personal Collection.Sepia: [Top] By Author [2012] Entrance to underground at Platforms 9 + 10. [Photograph] Personal Collection.[Bottom] By Author [2012] Looking out through a train window. [Photograph]B+W: [Top] Richters,C. [2010] Bernard Tschumi and Hugh Dutton’s pedestrian bridge for La Roche-sur-Yon in France. [Photograph] Dezeen.com[Centre] Lauriot Prevost, G. [2011] Dominique Perrault’s Pasarela del Arganzuela in Madrid. [Photograph] Dezeen.com.[Bottom] By Author. [2012] Underground Tunnel at Waterloo Station. [Photograph] Personal Collection. Personal Collection.
Image 31 - By Author. [2012] Footbridge to The Old Vic Tunnels. [Reprographic]
Image 32 - [Top] By Author. [2012] Interactive welcome screen at The Old Vic Tunnels. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.[Left] QR Scan. [2011] [Photograph] Available at: http://www.2dayblog.com/2011/08/16/only-6-2-percent-of-smartphone-users-scan-qr-codes/. Last Accessed 23.04.2012.[Centre] Touchscreen phone. [n.d.] [Photograph] Available at: http://digizmo.com/2012/03/30/understanding-touch-screen-technology/. Last Accessed 23.04.2012.[Right] By Author. [2012] Departures board at Waterloo Station, [Photograph] Personal Collection.
Image 33 - [Left] Reflective Garage Doors. [n.d.] [Photograph] [Right] By Author. [2012] Character at Waterloo Station. [Photograph] Personal Collection. [Bottom] By Author. [2012] CCTV Tunnel [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
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Image 34 - [Left] By Author. [2012] Garden at Winter. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.[Right] By Author. [2012] Garden at Spring. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.[Top] Hackney, D. [2012] Woldgate Woods Film Sequence. [Photograph] Personal Collection.[Bottom] Pulley, K. [n.d[ English Countryside. [Photograph] Available at: http://katepaulley.com/2010/11/english-countryside-katherine-paulley/. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012
Image 35 - [Top] By Author. [2012] Intermediate Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.[Bottom] Saraceno, T. [n.d.] Cloud Cities in the National Gallery of Berlin. [Photographs] Available at: http://www.tomassaraceno.com/#imprint. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012.
Image 36 - [Left] Lobby at the Hylton Pattaya Hotel in Thailand by Department of Architecture. [Photograph] Available at: http://www.departmentofarchitecture.co.th/. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012.[Centre] By Author. [2010] Sunset at Hillhead, Portsmouth. [Photograph] Personal Collection.[Right] Sunken bridge in the Netherlands by Ro & Ad [n.d.] [Photograph] Available at: http://www.ro-ad.org/. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012.[Lower Right] By Author. [2010] Feet in the sand. [Photograph] Personal Collection.[Bottom] By Author. [2012] Water Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 37 - [Top] By Author. [2012] Archive Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.[Left] Tadao Ando’s Punta della Dogana Renovation in Venice. [n.d.] [Photograph] Available at: http://blog.ldminstitute.com/interior/?p=2161. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012.[Right] Hwang, N. and Moon, D. [n.d.] NHDM’s Media Archive in Korea. [Photograph] Available at: http://www.nhdm.net/. Last Accessed: 23.04.2012.
Image 38 - By Author. [2012] Footbridge. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 39 - By Author. [2012] Welcome Screens. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 40 - By Author. [2012] Archive Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 41 - By Author. [2012] CCTV Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 42 - By Author. [2012] Meadow Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 43 - By Author. [2012] Tomas Saraceno’s Cloud Tunnel. [Reprographic] Personal Collection.
Image 44 - By Author. [2012] On the Train from Waterloo Station. [Photo-montage] Personal Collection.
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OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY
Research-Led Design P30032
Jennifer Jammaers11012989
Date:30.04.2012