Final Poster

Realms of Memory_ P2C

Nature

I found this proposal for Hans Christian Andersen - House of Fairytales Competition which is called the Forest of Tales. I was mostly impressed by this image which I think is showing somehow the integration of nature with man made structures. I'm not sure if this is too much or not, maybe it can be inspiring for some of us.

P2B Interim

Some thoughts about the Narratives

I was looking at Irish Hunger Memorial in NYC

So basically it is part of an Irish village, the ruins of the stone cottages after people left their homes. You go up from the street level and enter this "Disney Land"- like village to remember the Irish immigration to America. 

It's a bit too literal, but one interesting thing is the contrast between the present and the past. (in the materials maybe? and also the clean finish of the base part, it becomes messy and more natural when it goes up) I think it also tries to play with the idea of going from darkness to light, it is not that strong though.

I was also looking at the Japanese Immigration memorial in Brazil. 

To me, it is using metaphorical elements to abstract the idea of immigration. The path which is going slightly up, the formal gestures, the simple material and also water as a dividing element are all metaphors to showcase the "passing" form on place to another. 

None of these examples are buildings obviously. I'm starting to ponder about the narrative in a building. Maybe it doesn't have to be necessarily a series of ramps or stairs (the things that I'm struggling with right now). Or maybe ramps or corridors are not the best way to show the moments of the history. Maybe it doesn't have to be so powerfully present. I'm thinking about other ways to curate the experience in the building without making it imposing to the visitor. Invisible path maybe? Some kind of transitions between spaces that you are not extremely aware of the presence of it. 

I am sort of revisiting a lot of my initial thoughts, maybe it is not a really good time though!

More thoughts and design stuff coming soon... 

Canadian Architect

I realized that the February issue of Canadian Architect is about libraries! For those who are designing a library, it might be worthwhile to take a look at it.

P2A - The Future of the Past