Making Home: Understanding the Aesthetics of Nostalgia in Visual Media and Architecture

MAKING HOME Understanding the Aesthetics of Nostalgia in Visual Media and Architecture

Brody Walsh

Thank you to anyone who has supported me through the process of creating and curating this thesis.

This includes, but is not limited to, professors, classmates, family, and friends. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by people that constantly further my work as well as my thinking and creativity. I am impressed and inspired every single day.

For that I am grateful.

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Abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Design as Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Design Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 List of Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

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Figure 1: Discursive Image of a man walking into the unknown

Abstract

Nostalgia has always been used in visual media as a method of drawing in an audience by creating a more personal and relatable experience. The nostalgic perspective has been said to blur the lines between historian and viewer when talking about films of the past because of the necessary credit given to people’s emotions. A key aspect of the past as represented in film is the slowing of time. As average shot lengths decrease and our lives accelerate, this slowing down of time can extend experience, reminding us of a simpler, less demanding life. These were the guiding thoughts behind this thesis. A place of temporary stay was designed on the abandoned Peddocks Island in Hull, Massachussetts. The building exists as a renovation and addition to an existing chapel on site. The building consists of a series of moments dealing with time, distance, and imaginationcusing singlepoint perspective as the most powerful drawing tool in capturing the concepst of longing, projecting, and misinterpreting.

Keywords: Nostalgia, Film, Photography, Slowness, Imagination, Storytelling, Perspective

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Figure 2

INTRODUCTION

If nostalgia is a sentimental longing for the past, how can it be used to create an attachment to the present?

A combination of the time spent somewhere, the experiences had, and the memories formed there, causes a person to become place-attached. When we are place attached we feel like we belong; like we are home. When we feel this way, we have form a deeper connection to our surroundings and a stronger sense of community within them. We care more about the physical and social aspects of what we call home than anywhere else. People are even known to be more environmentally conscious when they are place-attached because they feel like they have something worth preserving.1 When we are new to a place in which we plan on spending a lot of time, for example, a new home, school, or job, the initial fears and anxiety we feel are the results of this place-attachment not being formed yet. We either remain until it is formed, or we eventually move on in hopes of finding it elsewhere. “(...) All really inhabited space bears the essence of the notion of home. (...) An entire past comes to dwell in a new house.�2

When people are displaced, often because the government bought their land with plans of redeveloping it, there is an immediate disruption between person and place. There is a sudden change to the community they leave, as well as the one they are forced to enter, wherever that may be. As seen in Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation, a story about a polish girl moving to Canada who uses her comforting memories of the past to help her establish a sense of belonging, it is easy to learn a new language, but very difficult to learn a new culture.3 This means that people can move somewhere new and functionally adapt, 1 Pam Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia: In the Mood for Love and Far From Heaven, (London, Routledge, 2004), 5.

2 Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, (Boston, Beacon Press, 1994), 5.

3 Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language Analysis. https://www.enotes.com/topics/ lost-translation-eva-hoffman.

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Figure 3: The planter on the corner of my childhood block, including a newly added swing

Figure 4: My old dresser, shelf, and refrigerator in front of an interior exposed brick wall

they can learn to communicate and navigate, but often times that is not enough to truly fit in. The people in this new place have to be willing to welcome someone into their home. They have to be willing to share their culture and help someone adapt.

“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. (...) Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.”4

Pam Cook reiterates the ideas mentioned in the quote above in her essay, Rethinking Nostalgia: In the Mood for Love and Far From Heaven. She stresses the importance of personal and nostalgic recollections of the past when telling of history because of the relateability that they bring to the table. Though memory is less reliable on a factual basis than actual history, it provokes emotional responses from an audience and generates interest. Cook claims that, “(...) Nostalgia helps to dismantle the power relationship between the producer and the viewer.”5 These terms are easily translated to resemble the relationship between the architect and user.

When we move to a new home, we lean on memories of the past in order to adjust. Often times people will hear of nostalgia and think that it is fighting progress, or, an unwillingness to move on. This is very common among immigrants who moved for a selfless purpose, in hopes of bettering the lives of their loved ones.6 A lot of the time, however, when we are moving for some reason out of our control, or even within our control, yet with some fear, it is quite the opposite. At a first glance, looking backwards may seem counterproductive when it comes to moving

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4 Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, 6.

5 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 1.

6 Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia, (New York, Basic Books, 2001), xv.

forward, but nostalgia has been proven to help restore a sense of self-continuity during times of change. These memories place us on a timeline and allow us to keep moving.

What role does architecture play in all of this?

There is no total resolve when speaking about the long discussed topic of “home” and architecture. As previously quoted, Gaston Bachelard does a great job of expressing the inherent poeticism entangled with ideas of home in his book, Poetics of Space.

Figure 5: The pair of swings at the park around the block from my childhood home

“(...) I should like to point out the original fullness of the house’s being. Our daydreams carry us back to it. And the poet well knows that the house holds childhood motionless ‘in its arms’.”7

Most of us have a pretty solid mental image, whether it be one or multiple, that immediately come(s) to mind when thinking of “home”. What is it, other than time spent there, that makes these places so comforting?

When looking at the results of a brain study on “beauty”, in which twelve people judged three sets of forty paintings based on their value of beauty, “Representational paintings, in general, were not only preferred over abstract paintings but they also produced greater neural activity.”8 This indicates that we are more attracted to things that are familiar to us; things that we don’t have to try that hard to understand. Similarly, architects, including Juhani Pallasmaa, have noted the importance of natural materials in forming relationships with spaces.

This is because we can relate to them. natural materials age and decay alongside us. Since we live such similar lives, it would go without saying that they have stories of their own. Mallgrave has also written about mirror

Figure 6: My old closet with folding doors

systems and our ability to interact subconsciously with architecture. Through these mirror systems, our bodies 7 Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, 8.

8 Harry Francis Mallgrave. Architecture and Embodiment: The Implications of the New Sciences and Humanities for Design. (New York, Routledge, 2013), 32.

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Figure 7: My last bedroom in my childhood home

Figure 8: My room after moving to Boston

Figure 9: A different old bedroom of mine

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begin to interpret the creation process of works of art, and buildings.9 This creates a closer bond between building and user through a better, mutual understand of one another.

I grew up in the suburbs of Long Island, New York. I lived in my parents house in Hicksville until I was 18, when I moved to Boston, Massachusetts for college.

I was attached to that house. It was very much a home to me and I was upset to find out a couple of years later that my mother had sold it and was moving to the town over. Throughout the past five years living in Boston, I have lived in five different places, as well as a room in Berlin, Germany for three months. I’ve lived in three different neighborhoods in the city. I’ve lived with friends, strangers, and partners. All of the rooms I have called my own have been drastically different shapes and sizes, yet, anyone that knows me could have walked in to any one of them and easily known that it was mine. When I move in somewhere, I really move in. I have memories in all of the places I have lived and I bring them with me to every new home. My walls (and floor) are constantly littered with remnants of the past. I am not holding on to these things in hopes of recreating the memories, or with any sense of melancholy. I hang these things up in order to remind myself that I am a summation of the experiences I’ve had.

These memories of the past exist in the present to help me construct a pleasant future.

When my mother moved to a new house, it was anI was interested in watching from Boston as my mother moved to a new house. I had not seen the interior until the first time I went to visit her. When I finally did, I had the entered with memories of our old home, and got to apply my unique perspective to my experience. I could see the similarities in decoration and architectural changes she made. It was like taking the memory of a space and placing it in a new mold, removing what didn’t fit and leaving room for growth. I feel comfortable in the house, 9 Harry Francis Mallgrave, Cognition in the Flesh…The Human in Design, (Cambridge, SA+P Press, 2014), 83.

but with the little time I spend there, I notice myself calling it my mothers house as opposed to trips to New York that I used to refer to as going “home�. The house is still a work in progress, and every change made is a unique manipulation of time. I can see the relevance of the past house, yet the decision to move forward and move on with all the best parts in tact.

All of this reminds me of the journals that I keep.

This is my way of creating a consciously curated memory bank. I get to decide what I write and, therefore, what I remember. I write a lot of conversation-style blurbs as well as many poems and songs about my present and my past, as I speculate about the future and how

Figure 10: My shelf of journals in front of my guitar

it will be effected. Recreating memories as art gives me control as the artist. I can reinterpret them through an iterative process similar to architecture. I can allow the memories to maintain their honesty while running it through a melody and rhythm of my choice. This therapeutic process allows for a better understanding of the past and people can hopefully relate to the song, creating a communal emotional experience. Song writing is essentially storytelling with an added melody and rhythm. Storytelling, a main focus of this work, is our brain’s way of recalling information in a chronological, humanistic, way. If we want to remember what we ate for breakfast yesterday, it may help to run through the whole morning. What were you wearing? When did you wake up? How much did you enjoy the meal? As we remember the whole, the parts become much more clear and dear to us. They become a piece of a puzzle that we enjoy and are then recognized as more essential than before. That sense of validation is what nostalgia does for us; it applies importance to our individuality. Storytelling can be used as a reliable design tool, and design can tell a story. This will aid in bridging the gap between architect and user, making an inherently more welcoming environment.

This thesis was created with hopes that architects and designers will begin to further incorporate humanity

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and empathy in their designs. Nostalgia deserves to be seen as a powerful and useful design tool as it can drastically alter the way we percieve a space. If something reminds us of home, it is no surprise that we will feel more comfortable than if it seems foreign and unfamiliar. As nostalgia is being studied more indepth, it is becoming more recognized as a way of promoting self-continuity.

This means we are able to stabilize ourselves when our sense of normalcy feels disrupted. We are able to remind ourselves where we came from and where we want to go.

This thesis is meant to open doors for similar explorations or memory, emotion, and architecture. An overarching intention is to gather as much information about how to Figure 11: An old room, including an old desk

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design for the needs of the displaced, or anyone in a new setting; to desifgn for comfortability, acceptance, and attachment.

Everywhere that I have ever reffered to as home has felt that way because of what I came with. I brought my furniture, my experience, and more importantly, my memories. I have been able to adapt because of what I know I can do to a space by truly living in it. I can make a new bedroom much more than just that. Every new bedroom is simply a combination of every old bedroom, placed in a new context. The memories are manipulated and made to fit any new geometry. The past is comforting and can serve as a push forward, when used appropriately.

Architecture is everywhere we go and everywhere we leave, so it comes as no surprise that it has an effect on the way we adapt and deal with change. The question is how, and how can we use this information to better design on a large scale?

Figure 12: Approaching the playground, referred to as OCR, in my hometown that had a very large role in my growing up

Figure 13: The long swingset at OCR

Figure 14: Point of view while swinging, facing the playground

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Figure 15: My childhood home

Figure 16: My mothers new home

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LITERATURE REVIEW

I: Nostalgia, Defined

The term “Nostalgia” is formed from the Greek words nostos, meaning return home and algia, meaning longing. It is a romance with one’s own fantasy-driven memory of the past.1 This romance creates an intensely subjective overlay of present and past attempting, and failing, to become one singular image.2 In the song “I Don’t Know Her”, by the band Diet Cig, vocalist Alex Luciano sings, “...I don’t want you to feel nostalgic for something that never happened.”3 This quote seems to perfectly sum up the fantastical aspects of a nostalgic memory and what can happen when you build things up in your head to be something they never have or will be. The constructed aspects of these nostalgic recollections can be blinding and end up defining the reminiscent experience. It takes a lot of responsibility and self-awareness to accept the mythological influence on memory when looking through a nostalgic lens. Although it can be seen as an individual experience trying to become that of a collective, it is often deemed inevitably unachievable.4 That unachievability is popularly believed among designers and non-designers alike. Because of this, most architects hear the term “nostalgia” and rule it out as a useful design tool. However, as proven by Pam Cook’s Rethinking Nostalgia: In the Mood for Love and Far From Heaven, in looking closely at film as a visual medium, we begin to de-construct that argument and understand ways of invoking nostalgia within an eclectic audience.

In the past, nostalgia was considered a curable disease of the mind, an idea that has since transformed into an incurable condition.5 The distinction between the terms “disease” and “condition” is important here, the latter implying a level of acceptance and understanding.

Nostalgia is a timeless thing, it is trapped inside of time, 1 Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia, (New York, Basic Books, 2001), xiii.

2 Ibid., xiv.

3 Diet Cig. I Don’t Know Her. Father/Daughter Records, 2017.

4 Boym, The Future, xv.

5 Ibid., xiv.

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and it does not have just one direction. It is moving forward and backwards, simultaneously. It has been thought of as moving “sideways” through a timeline.

Boym mentions that the past can be thought of as more unpredictable than the future because of this.6 When Pam Cook writes about the combination of truthful and nostalgic historical accounts shown in film, she claims that, while they remain less concrete, the nostalgic recollections are important because of the human scale they provide and the emotional interest they generate.

Essentially, they are used to push people towards looking further into the historical factors. When we feel an emotional attachment to something, whether it is a historical event, a place, or a film, we are driven to learn more about it. With further understanding comes further enjoyment. Ultimately, the big battle between nostalgia, time, and the nostalgic is the unwillingness to accept that time has won as a linear force. We are increasingly attracted to nostalgia because of its inherent ability to overcome the passage of time, especially if that past is in fact irretrievable in its entirety.

6 Boym, The Future, xiv.

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Figure 18: Polaroids from the cover of the film ‘Momento’

II: Film, History, and Nostalgia

Film is one of the most tangible ways for people to visualize nostalgia and memory, but what are the benefits to welcoming a nostalgic influence on cinematic portrayals of the past?

When referencing Forrest Gump, Pam Cook talks about how they superimposed the present on the past in the film by using technology to actually add Forrest to scenes from history.7 This was very effective in bringing the audience back in time with him. They had established a connection to the character as an ordinary man, then brought that connection on a journey. This connection isn’t lost as the past is explored in a new light.

Nostalgic films change the role of the historian.

It goes from decoding and de-constructing the past in an analytical and accurate way, to interpreting the relationship between past and present. They have a unique ability to understand an objective analysis of events while considering subjective responses to them. Historians and nostalgics can work together to create a new, more eclectic definition of what is considered history.8 Commenting on Raoul Walsh’s 1941 film, The Strawberry Blonde, which takes place in New York City in the 1890’s, Christine Sprengler says in Screening nostalgia: Populuxe Props and Technicolor Aesthetics in Contemporary American Film, “It is not the film’s intention to engage with the ‘history’ of New York during this period but to reconstruct it through reference to the practices, pursuits and visual and aural landscape of everyday life.”9 Often times, films depicting the past are less considered with the accuracy of every detail, as long as they appropriately and honestly give people a sense of being placed in the past.

A nostalgic recollection of the past helps people stray away from the overarching politics involved in major 7 Pam Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia: In the Mood for Love and Far From Heaven, (London, Routledge, 2004), 1.

8 Ibid., 16 9 Christine Sprengler, Screening nostalgia: Populuxe Props and Technicolor Aesthetics in Contemporary American Film, (New York, Berghahn Books, 2009), 25.

Figure 19: Forrest Gump being placed into multiple notable events throughout history.

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historical events and it allows an emotional bond between character and audience member. As opposed to looking at the macro scaled effects of something on a city, it focuses on the more detailed parts and how it affected everyday people.10 “‘Deliberate archaism’ refers to the practice of creating ‘new old films,’ (...) which mine the ‘memories of media forms’ to strive to recreate not only the look and feel of the period in question but also the appearance of art from that distant time”11 Film creators will avoid imposing their bias on the film by bringing people back through grand visual gestures and complete aestheticization. Films of the past not only strive to represent the past, but to look as if they were created within that past. There is some risk involved in portraying the past through a nostalgic lens of enhancement because people may believe it as absolute truth. While there has to be a way of acknowledging the fantastical aspects of the past enhanced by nostalgia before delving into actual events, “We also need to think about films that seek to activate a nostalgia mood through aesthetic strategies in order to see how feeling and critical insight… are not necessarily divorced”12.

Nostalgia being used as a powerful manipulation tool quickly sparks the interest of capitalists looking to cash in. This desire for a long-gone past can be commercialized and used to sell products, but there are also more ethical means of utilizing nostalgia in a sociological way.13 Immanuel Kant has famously said, “What matters is the motive, and the motive must be of a certain kind. What matters is doing the right thing because it’s right, not for some ulterior motive.”14 In regards to film, nostalgia is often used to engage the audience on a human level and promote further educating themselves, as mentioned above. Although looking at memory and

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10 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 4.

11 Sprengler, Screening Nostalgia, 86.

12 Ibid., 90.

13 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 1.

14 Michael J. Sandel, Justice:What’s the Right Thing to Do?. (New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010) 111.

nostalgia can blur the line between the subjective and objective, it is always times of more critical analysis and debate that the differences in accepted accuracy prevail.

In film, nostalgia helps to dismantle the power relationship between the producer and the viewer.15 This thought can easily be applied to architecture, in that the architect is the producer and the audience is the user.

In Cognition in the Flesh…The Human in Design, Harry Francis Mallgrave writes about mirror systems which explain the process through which we mentally simulate our environment in order to get more comfortable in a space. We replicate the creation process of a facade with our body, and our brain begins to feel as if it is creating what we are seeing.16 This gives users the ability to personally connect with buildings. While history and nostalgia are often thought of as battling one another, Cook tries to explain that they could in fact be thought of as two ends of a spectrum being tied together by individual memory.17 In his book, The Order of Things, Michael Foucault says, “The men of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries do not think of wealth, nature, or languages in terms that had been bequeathed to them by preceding ages or in forms that presaged what was soon to be discovered. (...) The history of knowledge can be written only on the basis of what was contemporaneous with it, and certainly not in terms of reciprocal influence, but in terms of a prioris established in time.”18 To Foucault, history can be seen as an interpretation of the past through a contemporary lens. This is why even when speaking of factual historical events, bias exists and people will inevitably tell the story they believe.

Essentially, nostalgic memory and history do not need to be thought of as a dichotomy because nostalgia can actually serve as a gateway in to history, by relating to 15 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 1 16 Harry Francis Mallgrave, Cognition in the Flesh…The Human in Design, (Cambridge, SA+P Press, 2014), 83.

17 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 1 18 Michel Foucault, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, (New York, Vintage Books, 1994), 208.

Figure 20: A fading aesthetic

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Figure 21: All eight images were taken from the 2015 film ‘Carol’ representing a nostalgic, dreamlike visual aesthetic

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people at a localized scale and amplifying the events that have transpired.

The previous images were taken from the 2015 romantic drama by Todd Haynes, Carol. The film uses nostalgia to bring an audience back to 1950’s Manhattan.

The images are depicting how nostalgia influenced the way we see love and affection. They are from a scene in which the two main characters, Carol and Therese, who later engage in a romantic affair, begin to fall for each other. The subtle attention to detail and visuals make the scene as dream-like as an old love can be. This technique will be increasingly more important as it is applied through design as research.

III: Nostalgia and Place-Attachment

Place-attachment is the “Blending of people and place.”19 Place is defined as a geographic site along with the social system organized there. It “Operates as a node in the complex global web of economic, social, and physical relationships.”20 Forced displacement calls into question the stability and security of a place, as well as invalidating it as an idea. This stripping of importance can constrain adaptation. Mobility in and out of a place alters that place and thus effects the people in it. A full range of emotions is involved in forming attachments in the first place.21 “(...) Memory, perceptual encounters and emotional responses all play important roles.”22 This complex system of relating people highlights the overly simplified notion that duration of time spent somewhere relates directly to attachment.

When leaving a place by choice of your own, or being forced into a situation involving some level of displacement, it is sometimes considered taboo to allow

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19 Lynne Manzo and Patrick Devine-Wright, Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications. (Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge, 2014), 1.

20 Ibid., 141.

21 Ibid., 5.

22 Ron Ostezan, Nostalgia: From Phenomenon to Architecture. (Connecticut, Paprika!, 2017).

yourself to feel nostalgia because of the guilt or fear associated with looking back. Also, the fear of allowing it to stop you from moving forward is very powerful.

Immigrants with a selfless mission of bettering the lives of generations after them often feel less sentimentality because of the sense of purpose they have adopted. Being able to even visualize the loss of a place can sometimes invalidate it because it proves that the grief can be made tangible and therefore easier to understand by a collective. Immigrants can typically feel a unique empathy for one another with regards to this longing sensation.

The distinction is broken up as the word itself is, nostos, the longing, can become a shared experience, while algia, returning home, remains subjective and allows for a maintained individuality.23

Dwelling is typically defined as an elective habitation one chooses that comes with a level of satisfaction and attachment because of time spent there.24 Nostalgia is related to the opposite, where people no longer feel at home because of newcomers and a unique blend of community backgrounds. Nostalgia implies difference while dwelling implies continuity. Nostalgia, however, can be used to create a sense of dwelling. It can serve as a threshold between something new and something quotidian. Can nostalgia make a new place feel like home?

IV: Nostalgia, Acceptance, and Adaptation

After displacement, we remain attached to what was, but that means that we hold on to the idea of something similar being again.25 Nostalgia is a longing for the past, but also a way of “restoring self-continuity disrupted by major life turns and traumatic events�.26 “Nostalgia is adaptive: it helps to put together broken 23 Boym, The Future, xv.

24 Lynne Manzo, Place Attachment, 39.

25 Ibid., 141.

26 Ibid., 53.

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parts, builds a bridge between past and present, increases self-esteem and life satisfaction, and reinforces social ties.�27 It strengthens bond with the present and the past.

Lynne Manzo references Lost in Translation, a book about a Jewish girl from Poland moving to Canada after WWII who uses nostalgia to help cure her un-rootedness. She eventually has to return to Poland to feel truly adapted.

This return home had proven to her the fantastical aspects of nostalgia mentioned by Boym, thus bettering her perception of the present. A lost cultural identity gives a new relevance to the past.28 Similar to the opposite of expectations for a new place, knowing that the past is gone can be comforting because it can never let you down.

It is necessary to acknowledge the process involved in belonging somewhere.

Nostalgia can’t really be seen as progress itself, some would argue its even the opposite, but it can often transition into progress. Honing in on this transitional phase can serve as a powerful method for creating place-attachment. Nostalgia is often used as a coping mechanism when we feel insecure, uncomfortable, or afraid. Cook writes about this as a positive coming to terms with something ending. It can lead to appreciation for something that had once been. Cook also writes about the ways nostalgia can celebrate the past in ways that challenge notions of progress. This causes mementos and certain artifacts to even be called into question.29 What is the point of applying sentimentality to anything if it’s going to change? Or should that be the point? If the past seemed so great, did we really get better by changing?

We allow ourselves to imagine alternative paths that we will never be able to take. This can only lead to a more progress and a positive recycling of ideas. Cook is applying an agenda to a more static version of this cycle mentioned by Boym.

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27 Ibid., 53.

28 Ibid., 107.

29 Cook, Rethinking Nostalgia, 4.

Nostalgic booms often follow revolutions.30 When there is a drastic and rapid change in daily life that is being considered progress by the masses, we find comfort in a simpler time that was easy to understand. Nostalgia can in turn cause revolutions as an attempt to revert time, and the cycle may continue. Nostalgia also can offer a voice to those opposed to the progress. They can then go back and point out potentially missed opportunities.31 In these cases, alternative routes can be found as nostalgia highlights the directions we are yet to explore. An important thing to acknowledge when developing a design method is that nostalgia is a fantasy of the past caused by needs of the present that will affect the future.

Boym describes immigrants as, “Yearning for a community with a collective memory.”32 She also echoes Manzo in that nostalgia is used as a defense mechanism against a suddenly accelerated life. When life picks up at a rate we are not ready for, we sometimes turn to nostalgia in order to be reminded of something nice and warm, or to remind us that anything, over time, will express beauty in the form of memory. We want to believe that everyone is missing what we are missing, and when we feel that has happened, our current situation seems less bad. Longing as a community is never truly prove though, as you cannot see the personal aspects that everyone is searching for.

It is easy to understand that duration of residency in a place forms attachment, but it can also be useful in forming acceptance for the loss of that place.33 If something is beautiful in hindsight, then the present can eventually become a beautiful past.

In his novel, This is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz says, “And that’s when I know it’s over. As soon as you start thinking about the beginning, it’s the end.”34

30 Boym, The Future, xvi.

31 Ibid., xvii.

32 Ibid., xvi.

33 Lynne Manzo, Place Attachment, 53.

34 Junot Diaz, This is How You Lose Her, (New York, Riverhead Books, 2012), 24.

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V: Precedent and Application

In order to invoke nostalgia in the users of a building, it is important to remind them of their temporality, activate their imaginations, and allow them to connect with the building on a personal level.

In stepping away from analog methods of timetelling through the invention of digital clocks, we have taken an inherently cyclic process, involving the movement of earth around the sun, and linearized it.35 We then proceeded to fragment it, living our modern lives as a series of experiences as opposed to one continuous timeline. “In the classical novels of the 19th century, time is an authoritative, slow and patient presence, whereas somewhat later it speeds up and fragments into isolated images and instances that are reconnected in new ways, as in Cubist visual imagery. The chronological narrative is replaced by an expressive manipulation of the time experience – slowing down, speeding up, halting and reversing. This change also takes place in all other art forms.”36 This temporal comparison can be seen in juxtaposing examples of classical styles like Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate with modern work like Gerrit Rietveld’s Schroder House or Le Corbusier’s Centre le Corbusier.

The classical work expresses a certain slowness through rhythm and symmetry that is lost as we move into a modern method of design. We traded in the suspense and the calmness for contemporary excitement. Buildings with a more spacious, rhythmic design such as the Parthenon, have powerful temporal qualities. They resemble an open field or park, or quiet city square; places where people may naturally go to experience gravity. The new works are geometric and exciting, but they do very little to utilize time as an experiential dimension. It is important to remind people of their place on a timeline in order to allow them to fully dwell in time.

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35 Juhani Pallasmaa, Inhabiting Time. (Ipswitch, MA, Wiley, 2016), 52.

36 Ibid., 53.

Figure 22: A digramatic representation of design based on the past vs design based on the future

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Figure 23: The Parthenon

Figure 24: Centre le Corbusier

Figure 25: The Parthenon (slow)

Figure 26: Centre le Corbusier (fast)

Figure 27: Brandenburg Gate

Figure 28: Schrรถder House

Figure 29: Brandenburg Gate (slow)

Figure 30: Schrรถder House (fast)

Figure 31: Skin vs wood

Figure 32: McGregor Conference Center

Figure 33: Ira Keller Fountain Park

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Many precedents involving nostalgia in architecture revolve around this intention of placing users in time. This is done through the use of light, shadow, and material.

When talking about the use of natural materials that weather in a similar fashion to human skin in Inhabiting Time, Juhani Pallasmaa says, ”Time turns into a haptic sensation; duration becomes a perception of the skin.”37 Weathered materials remind us of our own mortality and they provide us with a sense of age while also connecting to our own physical reactions to time. Pallasmaa also says, “The ancient Greeks faced the past, and the future emerged behind them; whereas modern man faces the future and the past disappears behind him.”38 This means they would design based on the past, so that design was continuous as a whole, but modern architecture has taken a different approach. We often try and make things that are different in order to create a spectacle, but this is not an effective method of capturing the essence of time.

Architecture should create four dimensional spaces, time being the fourth dimension. “Great works always enter into a dialogue with the past, making us sense time as an authoritative and calming presence and continuum, not a momentary or disappearing instant.”39 What does this dialogue look like?

“(...) Yamasaki believed that warmer materials and finishes would help humans better relate and interact with architecture. In that sense, Yamasaki does not strive to merely create buildings but ‘serenity and delight’...On the interior, natural light works in concert with the building textures and materials. It becomes an ethereal space with geometric ceiling forms and white palette indicating a predilection towards formal moves even within the aegis of a phenomenological architecture.”40 Here Ostezan is writing about some of the ways Yamasaki has engaged users emotionally through 37 Ibid., 57.

38 Ibid., 52 39 Ibid., 55 40 Ron Ostezan, Nostalgia.

his design for the McGregor Conference Center in Detroit, giving them a personal attachment to the building.

The waterscape surrounding the building expresses a remarkably similar tone and language as the Ira Keller Fountain Park in Portland, Oregon. When talking about the project, Pallasmaa says, “The man-made waterfall provides numerous intimate places for individuals and smaller or larger groups, the constant ow and sound of water stimulating a sensation of comforting duration.”41 Both projects generate a welcoming energy and imply extended occupation, expanding on Pallasmaa’s use of the term “duration”.

In his 2005 MIT thesis, Danny C. Chan designed an archetype based on nostalgia in design. One aspect of this archetype was a massive flat roof with three wholes cut out of it. Other than the locating and confining of the space, Chan did this to “(...) Emphasize the transience of the sky, rendering light as a changing element, an unbiased indicator to the passage of time.”42 This reiterates Pallasmaa’s ideas on our modern linearization of time.

Chan also replaced all standard columns and beams in the project with planar surfaces because of their reactions to light and shadow. Similar to Minoru Yamasaki’s McGregor Conference Center in Detroit. “Distinguished from its urban context, geometric forms, both inside and out, create sharp shadows which ephemerally pass with time.”43 It is clear that light and shadow are important reminders and activators of time in space.

Another important method of inducing nostalgia in users is through the activation of their imagination.

When talking about involving water in design, Pallasmaa says, “The reflective surface of water hides its depth and projects a second, hidden world. The doubled world activates our imagination for the duality of past

Figure 34: An active reflection

and future.”44 The water, or the reflection it creates, 41 Pallasmaa, Inhabiting Time, 59.

42 Danny C. Chan, Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin, (Cambridge, MIT Press, 2005), 21.

43 Ron Ostezan, Nostalgia.

44 Pallasmaa, Inhabiting Time, 57.

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in this case, is being used to open up the users mind to possibilities of other realms of existence. They are reminded that they are not the center of the universe and they had a series of experiences leading them to where they are, and they will continue to experience more.

Yamasaki’s use of water in the McGregor Conference center “(...) Instills a certain tranquility around the exterior of the building, a sharp contrast to the urbanized network of campus and Detroit at large.” The water here is also a sensual, aesthetic decision. In Danny C. Chan’s archetype, he has extended all of the beams and columns to become planar surfaces, as fore-mentioned, and in doing so, he created multiple uninhabitable spaces above the ground Figure 35: A suggestive entrance at the School of Architecture in Porto, portugal

plane. “The idea of the suspended walls as a primitive version of the new typology was first created in a primary and secondary school project the author completed a year ago, with the intention of creating a space that cannot be occupied physically but only by the children’s imagination.”45 People will see these unreachable spaces and project their imaginations, memories, and desires into them. This will activate their ability to think of things outside of the present, similar to Pallasmaa’s description of water and reflection. This also brings to mind Alvaro Siza’s School of Architecture in Porto, Portugal. The school not only follows a rhythm in dialogue with ancient Greek architecture, but it also stimulates creativity and imagination through the creation of a “metaphorical entrance”, aside from the actual entrance, which leads visitors into a small roof-less space. In the space there is a representational desk and a staircase leading up to an opening. The opening leads to a dense, un-curated, greenspace outside of any programmatic purpose. The space is suggestive of use while providing just the right level of abstraction to simply allow visitors and students to mentally occupy it. Siza made several similar moves within the school, such as a slanted doorway that is about five and a half feet tall and a very steep exterior stairway with

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45 Chan, Nostalgia, 21.

a handrail on only one side. He was able to do so because the gestures were written off as sculptures and so they did not have to abide by the building codes. Their mere classification as sculptures speaks fondly of their artistic nature and conceptual success.

VI: Concluding

Nostalgia is used by the mind in order to help form connections with foreign spaces that we may not feel completely comfortable in right away. We remember the past in a fantastical way in order to promote selfcontinuity and dwell on a timeline. Several projects have been able to speed up the process of generating nostalgia, whether it was intentional or not. In order to do this, projects need to have a specific dialogue with users. The projects need to have people relate to the building on a human level. This is often done by expressing a temporal dimension of the building and allowing people to really experience time within it. Another important technique is the activation of the human imagination. This will serve as the gasoline in a nostalgic fire. When we are reminded of time as a dimension, are feeling uneasy, yet relateable, and our imaginations are activated, the last ingredient needed to form attachment is nostalgia. We can project our past into our present and re-live it in an unfamiliar setting, thus, rendering it familiar, sooner. This technique will be applied to spaces where people who may have been displaced will enter, allowing them to quickly adapt to a new community and generate a new sense of stability.

Figure 36: Extended beams and columns creating floating, uninhabitable spaces

Figure 37: Thoughts being projected into an imaginary, uninhabitable space

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Figure 38

DESIGN AS RESEARCH

I: Storyboards and Silhouettes In looking at film as a representational medium, it has become clear that there are relatively standard ways of representing the past, especially in a nostalgic way. In film, memories and day dreams are represented in very similar ways, as is nostalgia. This makes a lot of sense when considering how much the two have in common with regard to fantasy, imagination, and projection. They are often represented as bright, grainy, and vague. They have enough information to convey a message, event, or story.

They may or may not depict recognizable people, but often some sign of life, whether it be sounds, a shadow, or a glimpse of another person. The more pleasant the memory, the slower it will be displayed. For example, a man reminiscing about the first time he saw the love of his life, or someone remembering time spent with a late relative. We have switched from an analogous way of time telling, which was circular, representing the revolutions of earth around the sun as well as its own axis, to a digital method. We have removed the relationship to the sun and turned something cyclic into something linear.1 We have then begun to fragment that linear time and live through it in a series of experiences, as opposed to one continuous stream of existence. This is clearly seen when looking at films over the past 75 years. The average shot length has drastically decreased, making much faster paced films.

The average luminance has also decreased in film, which speaks directly to our modern representations of the past.2 Our attention spans are shrinking at our own will and we are straying away from luminance in our representations of the present. With this fast paced present, it is easy to distinguish the past by slowing it down. It seems more simple, more continuous and it has an enhancing effect.

A slower tempo allows us to really soak in details. The diagram to the right represents the study of 75 years of film and the findings relating to trends in average shot 1 Pallasmaa, Inhabiting Time, 52.

2

Figure 39: Graphical repsentation of decreasing luminance and shot length in film over the past 75 years as well as the fragmenting of a linear time

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length and luminance.

In an attempt to recreate the past through a lens of storytelling, I have created a series of images representative of these findings. They were created as individuals and as I began to notice the successes in their willingness to create a story, I laid them out as a storyboard. They then became scenes of a movie. They were narrative through providing a setting and allowing an audience to imagine the dialogue. As I rearranged them, I learned that they can become infinite different stories.

This was educational in both representation, creating a narrative, and provoking the imagination, especially with regard to the past. The silhouette figures apply the right amount of ambiguity needed for a study like this, they are arguably un-gendered, yet it is not difficult to imagine them as real, tangible, people interacting with themselves as well as eachother. The images are capable of expressing emotion without showing a single face or uttering a single sound. This was a valuablestep towards understanding how to create a void with hopes it will be filled with other people’s thoughts.

Figure 40: People interacting at the table

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In looking at the image above, one can see a kitchen scene involving two people. But in looking a little bit harder, one can begin to see a couple making up after a big fight, or two friends arm wrestling. These two examples are juxtaposed as such to say that there is no right answer. This could be an image of someone helping their partner through a rough time, or two people in the middle of a fight.

Figure 41: People walking upstairs

What are the two people in the image above going to do? Are they friends? Lovers? Do they even know eachother? It is useful to understand how to create a sense of curiosity and how to leave an audience wondering. When we don’t know what we are looking at, we quickly look inside our own memorybanks and try and piece it together. This is a basic form of nostalgia as we will brgin to project our experiences and the ones we wish we could relive onto our current situation. This is why we use nostalgia as a coping mechanism and as a means of comforting ourselves in times of distress. When we worry for the future, it is nice to have a past to rely on. Depending on the viewer and their history, the story behind this image will change. The following series’ of images are meant to be used as a means of testing this.

The same five images are laid out into three different storyboards so users can create their own stories. The images are repeated, but the stories are not.

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Figure 42: ‘Ghosted’ storyboard representing visual ways of representing nostalgia and storytelling

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II: Precedented Explorations

In looking at the resulting architype from Danny C. Chan’s 2005 thesis, Nostalgisa and the Idea of an Urban Ruin, we see how the design utilizes three specific elements in order to invoke nostalgia in it’s users. Thirtyfive feet off the ground is a massive, flat roof, giving the design a sense of place by providing a vertical constraint.

There are also three holes in the roof, revealing the sky above. Chan reffers to this connection to the rising and setting sun as an “(...) Unbiased indicator tio the passage of time.” This allows and reminds people to dwell in time.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, the use of planar elements in place of typical columns and beams creates a series of thresholds and spaces; each calling for aunique set of experiences and memories. These elements are also more reactant to light and shadow; both of which are powerful indicators of time. when users look into the resulting uninhabitable spaces floating above them, they can begin to project their imaginations, memories, and desires into them. Danny C. Chan designed the architype with an agenda. He was striving to essentially create an initial link in a potential chain of design manipulations and interpretations. His work dealing with the imagination, mental projection, light, and shadow has served as a wonderful jumping-off point as he had reiterated some familiar themes as tangible evidence. His project was also sited, hypothetically, in Boston, Massachusetts. Though the specific site is one I have no intention of utilizing, the proximity is a comfortable expression of what can be done.

I have, more or less, recreated Chan’s project at a potential site in South Boston. The beams, columns, and walls are placed arbitrarily in order to recreate their

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effects on light and shadow as well as the uninhabitable, floating, imaginary spaces they create. This experiment was very educational. I have fully acknowledged that many changes need to be made in order to make a project like

Figure 43: View of Danny C. Chan’s final site model

Figure 45: View of Danny C. Chan’s final site model

Figure 44: View of Danny C. Chan’s final site model

this work in a new context. The material choices need chsanging as they are curated specifically to the site and project goals. While some elemants will remain useful, some will need to be adapted and other information will be applied to the project. This served as a positive starting point and has helped me realize more of what needs to be manipulated. The project is too small and has no indication of program, which removes some of the welcoming energy necessary. The project lacks a necessary human aspect that will aid the forming of connections.

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Figure 46: Site plan

Figure 47: Building section

Figure 48: Interior perspective

III: Stories in Section

Serving as an additional precedent, the Hotel Alexandra rests, abandoned, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Washington Street in South Boston. The hotel was built in 1875 and catered to a wealthy demographic with a decodent gothic exterior and fifty 2,000 square foot flats with high ceilings on the inside. The hotel began to go downhill after the aboveground T station was built immediately outside. With the new proximity to public transportation, the ground level was converted to a commercial space, similar to most of the surrounding buildings. With these changes, the area was becoming more busy and in turn, dirtier. This drove away some of the wealthy hotel-stayers, but no one seems to know when exactly the hotel was officially abandoned.

The hotel suffered through several fired throughout the 90’s which eventually lead to severe interior damage and the boarding up of the upper levels. There are rumors floating around about what may be done with the property, but they have been floating around for some time now with no active solutions.

Throughout my studies of film and photography capturing nostalgia and representing past, I have noticed that they are consistently focused on the slowing of time.

As life continually accelerates, reminding people of a slower, more relaxed past is a good way to quickly bring them back in time.

So what does this have to do with hotels? Hotels are a place to escape the intensities of everyday life. These are places to go in order to slow down and see something new; consistently dwelling between what we know and what we are learning. Also, when looking at a storyboard for the forementioned films, it is not hard to imagine it as an architectural section, tying several unique stories together in one single frame, temporarily. Hotels are places for stories to be created, connected and continued.

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Figure 49: Site Plan

Figure 50: The old hotel

THEN

Figure 52: Stories in the windows

Figure 51: The current hotel

NOW

THEN

Dynamic cut line representing the journey through a hotel

Figure 53: Circulation as a cut-line

Figure 54: Storyboard section cut

Figure 55: From stories to homes

IV: Photographic Inspiration

Several photographers take photos based on nostalgia, whether it is in order to relate to a widespread audience or to work out some sort of childhood trauma.

They may just be interested in representing the past in the present. Whatever the reason for the photos, they have gone on to serve as precedents for my architectural explorations as pieces of them are abstracted and converted into design decisions.

Figure 56: The Shed by Gregory Crewdson

The photo above, titled “The Shed”, by Gregory Crewdson was the first of four examples chosen. The walls and ceiling in this image represent the peeling away of layers of material, but also the layers of time.

By removing the outer materials from the walls, the framework is exposed as the truly important aspect of the structure. Additionally, the woman standing solemnly in the yard is only visible through a frame left behind by a vacant doorway. This pinpointed focus and blocking out of “unnecessary” information is key when aestheticizing

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nostalgic memories. The image has color splashed in throughout, but it all exists outside of the shed, providing a sense of longing and desire to be elsewhere in order to bask in the saturation.

Figure 57: Trees by Cassandra Hooper

The next photo, titled “Trees�, was taken by Cassandra Hooper. Outside of the nostalgic film effect the photo itself has taken on, it contains many elements serving as anchors to the past. The paint covered bricks exposing themselves are important, but what really stood out to me was the use of shadow. The fantastical aspects of nostalgia are focused on illusion and what level of fiction we may project into our own memories, especially when using nostalgia as a coping mechanism. We enhance the past, creating memories that may have never even happened, or, at least not how we think. This idea of representing what is not actually there quickly became prominent in my work.

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Figure 58: Tug by Cassandra Hooper

This image titled “Tug”, was also taken by Cassandra Hooper. It is not too difficult to understand the nostalgic influence on the photo because of the black and white representation and the child walking around, to point out two examples. While it is easy to imagine being a kid and playing in your own backyard, what stood out to me here was this idea of an implied past, architecturally, through the use of a door frame. One can immediately assume there was once a door on the wall in the background, but it has since been swallowed by brick.

This idea of “the remnant” stood out to me and became apparent in my design later on. These remnants can allow people to project their own imagined version of “what once was” into the space. This opens up their imagination and desire to think backwards.

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Figure 59: Untitled by Nicholas Muellner

The final photograph I studied was this untitled image photo taken by Nicholas Muellner. This image was mentally tied to the previous “Tree” by Cassandra Hooper to me because of its use of reflection. This technique is similar to the shadows used in the previous photo because of their ability to represent things that are not actually visible. This can, again, be attributed to the fantasy related memories that nostalgia generates. This concept became known as “ghosting” in my project moving forward, allowing people to see themselves somewhere they may not actually be able to physically go.

Each of these photos played a unique role in the early stages of this thesis. Each one served a specific purpose and was abstracted in a different way. They helped me further bridge the disciplinary gap between visual mediums and architecture. Though their results may be different, their inspiration and conceptual thought exist in overlap more often then they are given credit for.

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Figure 60: Photo Comparisons

Figure 61: Architectural Abstractions

V: (Mis)Representing the Past

Throughout the process of establishing an aesthetic that suits nostalgia and the past, there were many attempts and with those, many failures. I had gone down several different routes and different levels of abstraction in order to find the best representational methods while designing. I tried painting two layers of paint on top of each other and peeling back the outermost layer in order to reveal the paint below. This made th paint look chipped while revealing bits of the “past”. I also had attempted to construct a wall in which all of the layers were exposed, as if the wall was deteriorating from age. These examples, along with a few others, had quickly been rejected, both by me and my peers. They were potentially effective in a simple way, but they were overall too gimmicky and not expressing the true artistic nature of what I set out to do.

They were cheap representations of a pretend past. While that can be argued as a good thing due to the made up parts of nostalgic memory, it wasn’t as classy of a design tool as it could be. There are other ways to accomplish the same thing on much more profound level. While there are always countless no’s before any yes in design, these proved to be an important and useful lesson in this process.

Not so literal.

No gimmicks. gimmi Maintain the poetic nature of my intent.

Allow things to age on their own, and nd more narrative ways to express du duration.

Figure 62: Decaying Wall

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Figure 63: Chipped Paint

Not so literal.

Not so so literal. literal.

Not gimmi No gimmicks.

No gimmicks. gimmicks. gimmi No gimmi Maintain the poetic Maintain the poetic poetic Maintain the nature of my intent. nature of of my my intent. intent. nature Allow things to age Allow things things to age age Allow on their own,toand on their own, own, and and on nd their more narrative nd more more narrative nd narrative ways to express ways to express express ways duration. duto du duration. du duration.

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VI: Circulating Memory

Figure 64: Circulation 1

Figure 65: Circulation 2

Figure 66: Circulation 3

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Initial iterations of circulation strategies revolved heavily around abstracting nostalgia as an experience. For this purpose, nostalgia was being defined a temporary view of the past, while accounting for and understanding the fantastical aspects. This means when we look at memories through a nostalgic lens, we don’t really see a true history. We see what we want to. We hyperbolize the good parts because we know they are gone. This distorted vision quickly became something I experimented with in creating a building. There were several circulation models made involving consistent views of where one had come from. These views were often blocked by a sheet of glass, allowing for visual re-visiting, but no actual contact. Other layouts would have one central space with pathways branching off of it. In order to get from one hall to another, one would have to pass through their original location, visiting the past. The fantasy or fictional parts of nostalgia were being experimented with through the use of reflection and shadow, a process I referred to as “ghosting”. This involved either seeing people behind a surface only as shadows or by seeing their reflection existing in ways that we never could. These reflections and shadows would engage users imaginations and intuition, allowing them to “fill in the blanks” and see things that are deemed impossible. An example would be seeing the reflections of people walking, but on the tops of trees or in the middle of the ocean. These are all things we know well, but become entirely new when layered in certain orders.

All of these attempts had subsequent iterations in which they were combined as the most powerful moments were emphasized. These experiments lead to the idea of long corridors and framed single-point perspective views of where one is going. Moving forward, this became the most prominent method of capturing the slowness of nostalgic memories, and the essence of longing for the unreachable.

Figure 67: Massing Tests

Figure 68: Fake Abandonment

It is important to maintain the permanent connection to the temporality provided by the abandoned site, but also the daily connection to the tide. Remembering this, along with the way people access the site through one speciic entrance will remain important in forming the exterior of the building.

Figure 69: Circulation 4

Not so literal.

No gimmicks. gimmi Maintain the poetic nature of my intent.

Allow things to age on their own, and nd more narrative ways to express duration. du

Figure 70: Circulation 5

Figure 71: Circulation 6

Figure 72: Circulation 7

Not so literal.

No gimmicks. gimmi Maintain the poetic nature of my intent.

Figure 73: Circulation 8

Figure 75: Reflection People

Figure 74: Shadow People

Figure 76: Circulation 9

Figure 77: Test Views

VII: Abandoned Aesthetics

Boston, like most cities, is littered with abandoned buildings and infrastructure, all losing their occupation for differing reasons. Whether it’s an abaondoned hospital, school, theater, or railroad, these places are constantly being photographed. There is something inherently intriguing and exciting about the abandoned aesthetic.

People are given the opportunity to imagine; it’s all they can do to fill these places with lively stories and histories.

It is as if the moment they shut down, they bottle up all of the past experiences had on site and hold them on display until a possible destruction. They have the ability to exist on a timeline between then and now; frozen. This idea of a ruin became important to the project as I begam studying their qualities with regard to projecting an imagined past on to them. This is in many ways what nostalgia is and finding a site that naturally encompasses and enforces these ideas became quite important. The right backdrop for this thesis will not be temporally neutral or solely of the present. As previously mentioned, the “remnant” will serve as a visual cue, allowing people to finish the image themselves. For example, an abandoned railroad cin Massachusetts once connecting Lynn and Revere now serves as a catalyst for projection, imagination, and a trip into the past.

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Figure 78: Abandoned Map

Figure 79: Imaginary Train

Figure Figure34 80

DESIGN OUTCOMES

I: The Site

The abandoned Peddocks Island, as part of the Boston Harbor Islands in Hull, Massachussetts has been chosen as a site because of the ways in which it demonstrates time as a semi-ruin, as well as the extensive trip required to get there. The site was abandoned after being used as a military base in WWII and has since reopened for tours and events. As people arrive on site, they are able to imagine a “Boston before Boston�, especially if this is their first time visiting the city. In order to get to the site, one must take a ferry out of Boston. Adding this step slows down the entire process of arriving, reflecting back on ideas of slowness and the past in visual media. When going on a trip, one gets to escape the everyday intensities of life and take their time on what may typically be rushed.

This thesis captures and builds on that feeling.

As the ferry pulls up to the dock on site the first thing seen is a small, white kit-chapel. The chapel on the island was chosen as an immediate site because is the most notable structure on the island and because people have inherent associations with the church, whether it be religious, architectural or just in memory. Reoccupying it allows for the ability to oscillate between ideas of memory, space, and experience. The sandwiched location between the semi-ruin that is the island and the ocean allow for a constant stream of temporality to run through the building.

The site provides exterior views to run-down buildings and woodlands expressing each season differently. There are also constant views to the more immediate changing tides of the ocean.

A site with such an emphasis on the expression of time serves as an incubator of memory.

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Figure 81: Site Plan

Figure 82: Arrival Plan

Figure 83: Existing Chapel 1

Figure 84: Existing Chapel 2

Figure 85: Existing Chapel 3

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II: The Structure

As a result of several design decisions, the chapel was essentially elongated as a brick box containing the building program was inserted and now floats above and was then wrapped in a wooden screen, filtering views to the outside.

Figure 86: Axon Diagram

This project has been carried out as a place of temporary stay containing a series of repetitive markers of time and distance. A linear design provides people with a constant view of where they are going, allowing them to situate themselves between the near ground and background while projecting ahead. Immediately upon arriving on a new floor, the views are apparent. They are unavoidable with the elongated design. These views are then dealt with in a series of different ways. The prominent techniques I have put in to place revolve around the previously mentioned idea of a visual connection to where one is going, and dealing with the time spent getting there. One technique is the placing of a screen between someone and their destination, allowing for a skewed view of where they are going. The exterior wooden screen also effectively removes one face of a room, creating a ruin within a ruin. It is as if the structure suddenly ends, with no visible seams. Another is the unreachability of space, playing on desire and imagination. Whether it is a door that is impossible to get to or a bridge with no point of

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entry or destination, this phenomena caters to the concept of longing as well. The last technique is the opportunity for a projection into a constructed past. Deconstructed rooms and reflected floor plans create the opportunity for an imagined history of the building.

Figure 87: East Elevation

Figure 88: East Section

Figure 89: North Elevation

Figure 90: North Section

Figure 91: Ground Floor Plan

Figure 92: First Floor Plan

Figure 93: Second Floor Plan

Figure 94: Third Floor Plan

Figure 95: Views in Section

Figure 96: Section Perspective

Figure 97: Wall Diagrams

Figure 98: Section Perspective

Figure 99: Section Perspective

Figure 100: Section Perspective

Figure 101: Detail Section

Figure 102: Section Perspective

III: The Experience

As mentioned previously, the representation of this thesis relies heavily on the use of single-point perspective views. These views are prominent throughout the project because of their inherent connection to ideas of longing, time, and distance. These views provide a clear end goal, and the ability to frame what is in between. The tunnelvision effect that we get when recalling a nostalgic memory can also be compared to these views. The views can turn a railing into a wall of varying opacities or an object in the distance suddenly into an object of interest and desire. These views are framed in order to amplify the slowness contained within the project. They remind users to breathe and explore while transporting them to a simpler time. The following series of images captures a trip through the building, discovering the framed views, and the differences, similarities, and connections the building makes with itself and the outside.

While I can’t reconstruct individual histories, I can still create a sense of nostalgia in visitors through the slowing down of time, the projection of experiences, and exploring the relationship between people and their surroundings.

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Figure 103: Floating Bricks

Figure 104: Experience 1

Figure 105: Experience 2

Figure 106: Experience 3

Figure 107: Experience 4

Figure 108: Experience 5

Figure 109 34 Figure

REFLECTIONS

I: Concluding & Reflecting

This thesis began as an attempt to design architecture that will create nostalgia in users. I wanted to utilize the comforting aspects of nostalgic memories during times of change and use that to create a sense of place-attachment. This way people could feel comfortable in a new space quickly.

That then became an attempt to design a building through the abstraction of what nostalgia is. This meant dissecting the term and emphasizing it’s simplest parts.

These iterations consisted of spaces over lapping each other, revisiting beginnings, and unobtainable locations.

All of these ideas, along with countless other iterations and design tests, were eventually synthesized and lead to the resulting thesis project. The project ended up going back to the initial explorations of film and photography that helped create the idea. These mediums are the most powerful and commonly used methods of creating a universal nostalgia. They often do so by slowing town time and emphasizing experience. In the last stages of this thesis, that became the main goal; slowing down experiences and allowing people to bridge the gap between past and present in a place that is unfamiliar to them.

While I will continue “working� on this thesis in my everyday designs and future explorations, if I were given more time in academia I would further pursue material studies. Many questions have risen about material choices I have made (i.e. brick, wood) and it would be great to have more time to solidify answers and make more defendable choices. Knowing how much simplifying and refining has already been put in place as my ideas became more and more clear and as designing is never truly over, I am sure the building would grow conceptually and move in unanticipated directions towards the clearest results possible.

This thesis was created under the knowledge that

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not everyone is willing to allow themselves to believe the infinite effects of architecture on the subconscious and emotions. Whether they consider themselves rationalists or not, these people are unfortunately missing out on an enjoyable and educational field of interest. To write off these ideas is unwarranted, but sometimes , unfortunately, anticipated. For those who do not deny such phenomena, this thesis was created as a hopeful stepping stone in order to help serve research and expand upon the ideas brought up. People interested in similar topics can think of this book as a source and as a link in their intellectual chain of research.

Speaking to my points above about people in denial; this is okay. These people will push this kind of work further as having someone to prove wrong has never hindered a creative experience. It can only be fuel to an educational flame.

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Thank you.

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List of Images Figure 1: Walsh, Brody. Untitled. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 2: Walsh, Brody. Shoes. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 3: Walsh, Brody. Corner. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 4: Walsh, Brody. Dresser. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 5: Walsh, Brody. Swings 1. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 6: Walsh, Brody. Closet. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 7: Walsh, Brody. Bed 1. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 8: Walsh, Brody. Bed 2. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 9: Walsh, Brody. Bed 3. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 10: Walsh, Brody. Journals. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 11: Walsh, Brody. Desk. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 12: Walsh, Brody. Park. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 13: Walsh, Brody. Swings 2. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 14: Walsh, Brody. Swings POV. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 15: Walsh, Brody. Old Home. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 16: Walsh, Brody. New House. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 17: Walsh, Brody. Untitled. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 18: Calle, Lina. Momento (2000, Christopher Nolan). Digital image.

Pinterest. Accessed December 11, 2017.

Figure 19: Forrest Gump (1994). Digital image. Art and Practice. 2017. http:// artandpractice.blogspot.com/2016/08/appropriation.html.

Figure 20: Antoniou, Alex. Momento. Digital image. Issuu. March 8, 2011.

Accessed December 11, 2017. https://issuu.com/alexantoniou

docs/architecture_as_an_object_of_diary.

Figure 21: Nagy, Phyllis. Carol. Digital Film. Directed by Todd Haynes. Great

Britain: Number 9 Films. 2015.

Figure 22: Walsh, Brody. Past vs Future. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 23: Zucker, Steven. The Parthenon. Digital image. Www.khanacademy.

org. Accessed December 11, 2017. https://www.khanacademy.

org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/ beginners-guide-greece/a/introduction-to-greek architecture.

Figure 24: Zh, Roland. Centre Le Corbusier. Digital image. Wikimedia. June

18, 2011. Accessed December 11, 2017. https://commons.

wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centre_Le_ Corbusier_2011-06-18_18-11-02_ShiftN.jpg.

Figure 25: Walsh, Brody. The Parthenon (Slow). Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 26: Walsh, Brody. Centre le Corbusier (Fast). Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 27: Schonberg, Richard C. Brandenburg Tor (Gate) in early morning light.

Digital image. Wikipedia. May 29, 2014. Accessed December

11, 2017. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

File:BrandenburgTor_in_early_morning_light.jpg.

Figure 28: Schrรถder House. Digital image. Fat Misher. June 28, 2012. Accessed

December 11, 2017. https://fatmisher.wordpress.

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com/2012/06/28/schroder-house/.

Figure 29: Walsh, Brody. Brandenburg Gate (Slow). Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 30: Walsh, Brody. Schrรถder House (Fast). Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 31: Walsh, Brody. Skin vs Wood. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 32: File, MISPHO. McGregor Memorial Conference Center. Digital image.

Michigan Modern. Accessed December 11, 2017. http://www.

michiganmodern.org/buildings/wayne-state-university mcgregor-memorial-conference-center.

Figure 33: Aga1963. Ira Keller Fountain. Digital image. Trip Advisor. September

2012. Accessed December 11, 2017. https://www.tripadvisor.

com/Attraction_Review-g52024-d126562 Reviews-Ira_Keller_Fountain_Park-Portland_Oregon.

html#photos;geo=52024&detail=126562&aggregationId=

101..

Figure 34: Walsh, Brody. Active Reflection. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 35: Walsh, Brody. Suggestive Entry. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 36: Chan, Danny C., Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin.,

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.

Figure 37: Chan, Danny C., Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin.,

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.

Figure 38: Walsh, Brody. Nostalgia, Modeled. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 39: Walsh, Brody. ASL + Luminance Graph. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 40: Walsh, Brody. Table Talk. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 41: Walsh, Brody. Going Up. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 42: Walsh, Brody. Storyboarding. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 43: Chan, Danny C., Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin.,

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.

Figure 44: Chan, Danny C., Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin.,

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.

Figure 45: Chan, Danny C., Nostalgia and the Idea of an Urban Ruin.,

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005.

Figure 46: Walsh, Brody. Test Plan. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 47: Walsh, Brody. Test Section. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 48: Walsh, Brody. Test Perspective. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 49: Walsh, Brody. Locus Plan. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 50: W side of Wash(ington) St. S. cor. of Mass. Ave. Digital image.

October 30, 1899. Accessed December 11, 2017. https://

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexandra_Hotel,_Boston,_ MA,_1899.jpg.

Figure 51: Matthew, Healy. Clearly Not Happening. Digital image. December

13, 2014. Accessed December 11, 2017. http://www.

bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2014/12/scientology_ scrubs_boston_hotel_hq.

Figure 52: Walsh, Brody. Window Stories. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 53: Walsh, Brody. Dynamic Cut. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

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Figure 54: Walsh, Brody. Stories in Section. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 55: Walsh, Brody. Living Section. Digital image. December 11, 2017.

Figure 56: Crewdson, Gregory. The Shed. 2013. Cathedral of the Pines, Gagosian Gallery.

Figure 57: Hooper, Cassandra. Trees. Foreground.

Figure 58: Hooper, Cassandra. Tug. Tug / Pines.

Figure 59: Muellner, Nicholas. Untitled. 2013. Re-enactment (winter’s campaign).

Figure 60: Warchol, Paul. Digital image. Trendir. Accessed April 12, 2018. https:// www.trendir.com/cool-concrete-house-with-hot-swimming-pool-featureabove-main-entrance/.

Ciofu, Ionut. Digital image. Home Edit. Accessed April 12, 2017. https://

www.homedit.com/charming-wooden-beams/.

Digital image. Wold Club Chronicles. May 12, 2017. Accessed April 12,

2018. http://wolfcubchronicles.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-max=2012-0803T21:08:00 09:30&max-results=20&start=15&by-date=false.

Digital image. Manhattan Nest. October 4, 2016. Accessed April 12,

2018. http://manhattan-nest.com/2016/10/04/breaking-my-kitchen-has-afireplace/.

Digital image. Accessed April 12, 2017.

Figure 61: See Figures 31, 34, 56, 57, 58 and 59 Figure 62: Walsh, Brody. Decaying Wall. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 63: Walsh, Brody. Chipped Paint. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 64: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 1. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 65: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 2. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 66: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 3. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 67: Walsh, Brody. Massing Tests. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 68: Walsh, Brody. Fake Abandonment. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 69: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 4. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 70: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 5. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 71: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 6. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 72: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 7. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 73: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 8. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 74: Walsh, Brody. Shadow People. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 75: Walsh, Brody. Reflection People. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 76: Walsh, Brody. Circulation 9. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 77: Walsh, Brody. Test Views. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 78: Walsh, Brody. Abandonment Map. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 79: Walsh, Brody. Imaginary Train. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 80: Fort Andrews in 1932. Digital image. Vita Brevis. July 24, 2014.

Accessed April 12, 2018. https://vita-brevis.org/2014/07/prisoners-peddocksisland/.

Figure 81: Walsh, Brody. Site Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 82: Walsh, Brody. Arrival Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 83: The Chapel. Digital image. ASLA. Accessed April 12, 2018. https:// www.asla.org/guide/site.aspx?id=40537.

Figure 84: Helping Hammers: Peddocks Island Chapel Restoration. Digital image.

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Youtube.com. January 30, 2015. Accessed April 12, 2018. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=zqupWryB4To. Figure 85: Chapel Being Rennovated. Digital image. Trip Advisor. Accessed April 12, 2018. https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60745d558276-i104389298-Peddock_s_Island-Boston_Massachusetts.html.

Figure 86: Walsh, Brody. Axon Diagram. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 87: Walsh, Brody. East Elevation. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 88: Walsh, Brody. East Section. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 89: Walsh, Brody. North Elevation. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 90: Walsh, Brody. North Section. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 91: Walsh, Brody. Ground Floor Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 92: Walsh, Brody. First Floor Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 93: Walsh, Brody. Second Floor Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 94: Walsh, Brody. Third Floor Plan. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 95: Walsh, Brody. Views in Section. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 96: Walsh, Brody. Section Perspective. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 97: Walsh, Brody. Wall Diagrams. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 98: Walsh, Brody. Section Perspective. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 99: Walsh, Brody. Section Perspective. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 100: Walsh, Brody. Section Perspective. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 101: Walsh, Brody. Detail Section. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 102: Walsh, Brody. Section Perspective. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 103: Walsh, Brody. Floating Bricks. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 104: Walsh, Brody. Experience 1. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 105: Walsh, Brody. Experience 2. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 106: Walsh, Brody. Experience 3. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 107: Walsh, Brody. Experience 4. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 108: Walsh, Brody. Experience 5. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

Figure 109: Walsh, Brody. Exterior Image. Digital image. April 12, 2017.

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