Exosomatic Memory

To conclude, exosomatic memory comes in many forms. From the first printed picture, to the most recent building, memory is something which is created and represented every second, even this thesis is a memory now. It represents the research and and thoughts I had in my mind and explains them in a format that others can see and understand.

Memory, the main character, is very complex but through the parent of nature and the friend of system many realisations have been found and memory was able to be vulnerable for long enough for us to understand more.

The city of Athens has an issue - a severe abundance of under utilised and abandoned buildings. By researching into how we can remember and imagine past events through experience of spaces, rather than the visual trigger of the memory associated to building, a solution [albeit not perfect] has been created and provides a baseline for potential future design within dense urban environments. Where there is no longer space for new structures, and where it is too environmentally taxing to demolish and rebuild we work with these sites in their old age, allowing them to fade naturally.

By creating a system for now, and a canvas for future development, we can acknowledge that this is just a small part of a very large story. A large ecosystem of people, design and purpose.

It is recognised that the proposed system may have a few unresolved issues. The first being that once we have a digital version and storage of the abandoned building being inhabited, this then frees the site up for any proposal meaning it may be vulnerable against developers who just want to make money. It i essentially paving the ground for gentrification, giving people an easy excuse to demolish and restart. A solution to this could be to restrict people from demolishing, and state in any contracts that the existing structure must be left to deteriorate itself. Another issue is that the abandoned buildings are forever and constantly changing location meaning the proposed experience and journey of the sites should keep up with the pace. Finally another area of potential weakness is realised where the system has the scope to become just another tourist attraction.

So, it is recognised that incentive is required for locals to give the concept more of a purpose.