Move along with your memory Thesis

Move along with your memory

Thesis & Processes

Hung-che Cho

ArtEZ University of Art Master interior architecture

Introduction

10 Layers of memory

22 Move along with your memory

Conclusion

According to the United States Census Bureau, people on average move 11 times in their lifetime. People move for different reasons, for example, refugees trying to escape from the war, students moving to the city to study, and workers moving to the city for work. Or simply moving for better living quality.

Some people might have this feeling when you just move to a new space and feel like they don't belong here. Things that people feel familiar with are no longer here. It could be the furniture, the wall hanger where you put your coat, or the window where sunlight shines through in the afternoon. These users' experiences forming to memory and then a sense of belonging.

How can we find that sense of belonging back in our place?

1. Introduction

“Architecture is to be regarded by us with the most serious thought. We may live without her, and worship without her, but we cannot remember without her.“

– The Seven Lamps of Architecture, John Ruskin

Memory in architecture

Memory is an intangible thing that elapses over time. But throughout history, humans commemorate in all kinds of ways and conserve memory in any form, and architecture is one of them.

As Ruskin said, architecture is the medium and storage place of human memory, but the building will eventually wither, so how to preserve the monuments is more related to how we preserve memory.

The Neues Museum Credit: © RORY GARDINER

World Trade Center Transportation Hub Credit: © Hufton+Crow

With the rise of human civilization, religious buildings have always been with us in our lives. Our most intimate memories have been kept in the space, from birth to death. Without our participation, churches and temples are just one space. As Albert Jacquard said, "The individual is only a stone, humanity a cathedral." Therefore how to preserve the memory became my research motivation.

Isejingu 伊勢神宮

Credit: © Triplisher

Church Dominicanen West Facade1938 Credit: Historisch Centrum Limburg

1962 Church Interior Space Credit: Historisch Centrum Limburg

North Façade of Main Hall Credit: 沈安杨

After Restoration of Main Hall Celling Credit: 一条 Interview Video

Section of haiden Credit: 修理工事報告書

In my theoretical research, I studied three religious building preservation cases with different cultural backgrounds and different preservation methods.

1) Boekhandel Dominicanen

2) Nikko Tosho-gu

3) Zhì Zhu Si

And divide it into skin,structure, and space for analysis.

During the processes of research, I learned that religious buildings need to preserve memory by conserving their overall form. For example, the statue has meaning for the space, the original materials from the monuments, etc. The conservation must be able to give people an experience, and the most important thing about this experience is to enable people to feel the memory of the place.

2. Layers of memory

2-1. Impression and Layers

Speaking of the creation of memory reminds me of the Impressionist painter Pierre Bonnard. Not only because Impressionist ideas are closely related to impressions and memories in the mind. Moreover, Bonnard used memory as the starting point for his painting.

Bonnard did not paint in front of his motifs. Instead, his paintings were, in other words, salvages and translations of primary sensations.

His painting process has

1. Recall the picture from his mind

2. Write notes or sketch

3. Refine the picture in his mind

4. Start painting

The Bathroom Credit: Pierre Bonnard

When I was trying to recreate Bonnard's paintings, in the process of writing down the notes, I became curious about how people recall our memories.

In psychology, our memory is divided into subjective memory and objective memory. Subjective memory mainly records our feelings about things, while Objective memory records our observations.

Between the two, when people try to recall memories, it is often dominated by a subjective memory.

"When we recall a memory, we retrieve specific details about it: where, when, with whom. But we often also experience a vivid feeling of remembering the event, sometimes almost reliving it. Memory researchers call these processes objective and subjective memory, respectively."

- Distinct neural mechanisms underlie subjective and objective recollection and guide memory-based decision making

Pictures of NL room Credit: Hungche Cho

Note of memory Credit: Hungche Cho

Whether it's moving or traveling, I have a blanket that I have used since I was a child. Every night I experienced is deeply embedded in my memory, and these memories also form a sense of belonging. Whenever I go to bed, the blanket can accompany me and makes me feel at ease.

In this sense, my artisistic research question : How to move along with the sense of belonging of room?

For me, the most memorable and intimate space is my room, so I started to experiment with my room's layers of associations. By recalling my memory to recreate the scene of my room, I found out that under the limited space elements form in my room. And these elements and configurations are key to my sense of belonging.

The following research will focus on the elements and layers in my room based on my finding.

2-2. Exploring the layers

Combining my theoretical research with my artistic research. I analyze the room separately for physical skin, structure, and space and psychological memory for feelings and elements.

Feeling of Space

Here I have studied how to analyze my spatial experience concretely. Materialize the feeling through spatial configuration, color, and spatial impression.

Feeling Space

Impression

Engraving

Skin, Structure, Space

In my theoretical research, I was able to understand the essence of architecture by analyzing three different lenses.

I decompose the studio in my memory through the same method.

In addition, the relationship between objects and people in space is analyzed by sand and water at the bottom layer. The interaction between people and objects will cause the fluctuation of water and sand to understand the circulation in the space.

Layers of Memory Space

Used a 1:1 scale installation, to represent the room in my memory. Present the layers using suspension and analyze the main points of the space in memory accordingly. In the process of thinking, four elements are crucial to forming a spatial memory. The arrangement, objects, colors, and spatial functions.

There may be differences according to people's subjective memory, and my model reflects the memory layers in my mind.

Combination of Discovery

After a series of studies, it is clear that the relationship between the space layer and memory. But what is the essence of space memory?

Based on the previous research, I made a 1:1 model of my room again and look for the essence of the memory space by depersonalizing and reproducing the recall process in my brain.

Under the condition that only the position, height, color, and shape of the space itself are retained, it is necessary to reshape the space in memory and brings a sense of belonging to people.

In this experiment, it is confirmed that the configuration, color, shape, and function of objects are essential, but the most important thing is the user's space experience. Though it is far from the room in real life, the hints given by the elements in the space can well convey the sense of belonging of my room.

3. Move along with your memory

According to my previous research, the memory has complex layers, in addition, it can also be affected by many other elements. Under such a discovery, how to use these research results? And how can it be applied to the situation of moving to create a sense of belonging?

3-1. Moving from Taiwan

As an international student, moving from Taiwan to the Netherlands was a new experience. From the size of the room to the equipment of the room, etc., different cultures also affect those detail I get used to having.

When I first came here, the feeling of being alone in a foreign land in the room makes me seek to find a sense of belonging in my private space. And a room with a familiar feeling can make me truly relax and rest in it.

So I started to analyze the difference between my room in Taiwan and the Netherlands. And make a comparison based on the configuration of the space. After comparison, I found that even under different spatial conditions, I still have generally fixed room rules in the room.

In shaping my room, there are two cores, the desk and the bed, which in turn extend and determine the development of the rest of the space

Taiwan

Taiwan TaiwanNetherlands Netherlands Netherlands

3-3. Materials with Projector

In the process of reviewing the photos, I found that my memory of the room began to mix with the current room. So I started thinking about what was missing from my previous research to explore elements of my room. To improve the missing parts such as space configuration, color, etc.

Then to present the two overlapping rooms in my memory, I tried to use a projector and a wooden structure, fabric, and light to create an overlapping and overlapping image.

To ensure that the method can be used by others, I started to set up a set of procedures and experimented in my housemate's room. During this process, I also found that simply moving the original room elements was not suitable. Cause the elements might work on the previous space, but not the new one. Putting things that are not suitable for a space into the room will only cause trouble to the user, so it needs to be properly adapted to the existing space.

Moved to ArtEZ

During the two experiments, I gradually learned how to recreate the sense of belonging through the combination of structure and projection. And through another simulated moving, the overall detailed arrangement was re-arranged, and a set of processes was explored from it.

Sometimes when we look around our room, and just a glance of that corner, and you found some familiarilty from it. That shows our memory scenes of old place could be mix up with the new. And for me that is the starting point for creating a sense of belonging.

Therefore through the analysis and overlapping of photos, we can find this point of balance. And that is the starting point for creating a sense of belonging.

Taiwan Netherlands ArtEZ

The Materials

When creating such an abstract sense of belonging space, the most important thing is the place that can be associated with people, no matter it is the shape, the arrangement of the space, the color, etc. When these hints can be related to the memory in our brain, then it can bring a sense of belonging.

Therefore, the choice of materials is crucial. When the personality of the material itself will give people extra imagination, it is not an ideal material here.

At the end, I chose white as the base and apply to the materials that I work with before like paper, cloth, and foam board. And it can better enable people to project their memories on it.

The Abstraction

In the process of creating space, I realized that imagining is a very important and non-negligible process in recalling our memories.

If there are hints to guide us along the way of imagining, it will be easier when we need to recall a specific memory. Hence hints with only a little information such as frames and blanks become the best medium.

The Pattern

The configuration and experience of the space are very important for a space. And when this concept extends to the room, it is the same for how we place our furniture. So when we use the projector to project the image, we must recognize what elements need to adjust, and making changes is critical.

Tool Box and Rules

After my research, now I need to establish a complete set of rules and toolbox for people to use, starting from the most basic toolbox. Considering the size of the toolbox itself, and the tools that is essential, the following is the content of the tools and materials.

Projector

Glue Gun Duct Tape

Ruler

Acrylic

Foam Board (70*100 , 100*140)

Fabric (300*300)

Paper (A3*10, A1*3)

1. Start by picking out photos of old rooms that contain elements that you miss but don’t have in your current room. Then project it into the space that you think is suitable for it and take a photo.

Physical object: The selected photo is a cabinet, then project the image of the cabinet to a place that can fit the cabinet reasonably.

Photos and posters: Choose a suitable space for projection. If the previous location was a door, but the current room space is not suitable, you can find other flat spaces for projection based on the orientation of the original poster.

2. Measure the space you need, and record the size you need to cut according to your original impression. If it is too different from the existing space, then you need to adjust it.

For example, if the size of the cabinet is 120*180, and the existing space is 100*200, it is recommended to adjust the size of the cabinet to 72*108.

3. Cut and assemble the parts you need, and choose different tools to assemble according to different materials.

Foam Board: Use Glue Gun to bond. If the Foam Board structure is required to carry the weight, additional structures need to be installed. Add another piece of FoamBoard installed horizontally under the weight-bearing board to support it.

Paper, Fabric: If you need a complete and long straight line, you need to use a utility knife and a long ruler to cut.

4. When you need to wrap and whiten your decorations and books.

Books: Put the paper under the open book, try to open the book and keep it in a flat state, measure the required paper size, cut it, fold the two sides into the two sides of the book, and fix it with tape.

Decorations: Pick out decorations of a similar type that you miss and paint them with the acrylic paints in the toolbox.

5. Place all finished items in your desired location and secure them with duct tape from the toolbox if needed.

6. After a week or two, after experiencing the changes in space and position, you can replace or adapt them. For example, photos can be replaced with new memories, and cabinets or shelf structures can be reused to put the things you need.

4. Conclusion

Belonging space

In my hometown Taiwan, there is a folk proverb, that a golden den and a silver den are not as good as your dog kennel. It means that even luxury accommodation can not be as comfortable as my home, and this is the space I want to create.

When we work hard and learn the whole day, and return to our room, a space full of our memories and comfort is what everyone needs, and when we move to a new space if we quickly grasp such characteristics, that is my design goal.

Through my design, people can be more aware of themselves and their space when they build it, and in the process, they can also invisibly connect and resonate with such a space. In this way, the memories of the building also become the nourishment of belonging and grow and thrive. And such memory space is unique to each person, and it is irreplaceable.

As interior designers, it will be helpful if we can know what our clients miss from the previous space. So that the space we design will naturally come with a sense of belonging.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ruskin, John. The Works of John Ruskin. the Seven Lamps of Architecture. - 1903.(Ruidnr.: M102412516). London: George Allen, 1903.

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