SCRIPT I N G
M E MO R I E S
Surface, Cut, Script ‘The memories of moments’
Spatial Fabrication III Kamal Kaur
CONTENTS Abstract 4 Introduction 5 Research context Public space 6 Time in Cinema 7 Time in Architecture 8 Intention Site of memory 9 Methods 11 Reference List 19 Figures 20
SCRIPTING MEMORIES Memories of Moments
The idea of my design is to reimagine the Forte Lane by reinterpreting its role from a shortcut for the public into an urban space, serving as a memory lane to experience the deep and intimate connection to our surroundings. Essentially understanding the past existence of Forte Lane in a flash back narrative like in cinema, focusing on combining how the site functioned as original foreshore. I want this project to be portrayed as a storytelling of past with the flashback narrative, so as the public enters the threshold of the site I want them to experience different phenomena from rest of the city. But unlike film where we perceive the space from one perspective. I want our bodily movement through space to interact and inhabit space and time.
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INTRODUCTION
How does architecture trigger the memory? I want to learn how can I apply the phenomenon of memory into my site. How can I change Forte Lane into something beyond an object? It is fascinating how important the relationship between memory and space can be and how architecture plays a role of a platform for our memories. Architecture is much more beyond physical materiality. (Hornstein, 2011) As Forte Lane is beyond the physical site itself, it is a construction of our mental, emotional and physical space that we should be able to relate to. It is interesting to find out how our bodies react to different spaces. Spaces can influence how we feel both mentally and spiritually. (Bencivengo, 2012) “Architecture is the biggest unwritten document of history” (Daniel Libeskind) as when I first visited the site, I saw Forte Lane as the type of place in the city that told me the things I didn’t know and reminded me of things that I have forgotten. Forte Lane holds so much of rich history of Auckland that many of us were unaware of it. That is why I want to imagine Forte Lane into a more creative space and an extraordinary experience even if it is only used as a shortcut because life is too short to walk through a dull and dreary lane. I want my design to make the personal connection with the inhabitants of Auckland. Something which is not only a physical construction but something that triggers inhabitant’s memories and emotions. I am interested in creating a space for who inhabited the space before us and how they occupied the space. I want to achieve a sense of connection with Forte Lane and its history.
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PUBLIC SPACE
Even though the site may seem very plain with only concrete facade but this concrete alley had many interesting textures and layers on the walls. These patterns emerged over time due to the aging of the exterior. Textures can be hard to notice for daily commuters but they play an important role to separate Fort Lane from rest of the city. It seems like we are so emerging into our daily 9 am to 5 pm routine that “we have lost sight of what it means to be in place, to experience, to know the physicality of a place� (Hornstein, 2011) We can understand the character of a site through its textures to get a deep understanding of the spaces. It is important to see how the site is connected to the raw material rather than just focusing on the surface or skin of the site. We must view how the materiality or the characteristics of the site communicate through a form of specific materials in the process of design. (Wiberg, 2011) The aim of this brief is to create an urban space through a cinematic lens and ultimately trigger an innovative way to design a public space. The publicness of this site is not ideological because for many inhabitants the existence of Forte Lane is only for a shortcut. But the users of Forte Lane who inhabit this space in the routines of their daily lives are the most important elements. (Lefebvre,1996) In right to the city, Lefebvre states that the city is an oeuvre and not a product; it is work of art and not a collection economic or political structure and in this creation of space, all inhabitants like working class daily commuters bring beauty to the city. (Lefebvre,1996) Though the site already has small eruptions of the urban and moments of meaningful connections but these moments are very brief. That is why urban space on Forte Lane doesn’t exist in its mature form yet. It is interesting to see how the Forte Lane is run by capitalism with expensive restaurants and cafes like the Imperial Lane, Cassia, and Roxy. I would like to create an urban design that works free from dominating capitalism because an urban space is an essential element that should be approached as a human right. It is essential to have a space to inhabit without any sort of payment like for cafe and restaurant.
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TIME IN CINEMA
In cinema, techniques such as silence, performance, movement, and light are masterful elements that play to capture the phenomena of space. Carefully crafted works in cinema can represent how subtlest manipulations and control from the cinema makers or designers can show any artistic vision. Time is an artist’s most intangible device and an instrument that reshapes the art as much as the art reshapes the time. Time is always an everlasting substance for the film makers, rather than blocking, time is used more as an accessory onto cinema. Filmmakers use of time can create deep aura through how it molds the reality of the world. Cinema allows for modification of time as it can be edited to create a balance yet the constant pace in which the audience experience time remains unchanged. Therefore if time is to have value in cinema, there has to be a combination, for the manipulation of time and film to come through the screen and infuse with how the audience experiences its movement. (Jacobson, 2005) I watched 12 years a slave to understand how cinema captures stories of past or something that doesn’t exist anymore but still has an important part of history to some people. It was directed by Steve Mcqueen with a slow and distressing style. The aesthetics of the film display the perspective of someone’s experience, rather than the traditional way of taking multiple shots and piecing them together. The audience was provided with all aspects of knowledge to the true reality of this world by being able to experience an intrusive real time. When the director presents us with a subject in a long continuous take to not cut away from it. In result, if the audience is engaging with it, it enhances what is happening in the frame. Because the audience is not subconsciously reminded that they are watching a film by their being an edit. The audience has become so used to the edit that now we don’t even think about it much. But the idea is so that the audience is not given a chance to look away. They are drawn in and held in the action. (McQueen, 2013) In this film, the usage of expanding and compressing time of its scenes in transit ways not only present moments but also positions of others because it orders to show cohesive aspect of time you should also contrast in a different effect. The ability to show both the expansion and squeezing of time that allows these monumental scenes to carry such power. In 12 years a slave, time is shown for what it is, a precious existence which is either lingered on for too long or not cherished when necessary. Time is relative to both Solomon and ourselves managing to piece together moments otherwise not connected through plot but used to show one individual experiences with in a much larger collage. That is what this film, is a tale of, one man’s unimaginable sufferings from his perspective and his perspective attempted to be communicated to us through time. Through time we were made to feel the same anxiety as Solomon. Although we may not fully understand it the aim of cinema to communicate those feelings by any means necessary because for us time may stay the same but through cinema, we can capture and experience it through the eyes of the another. (McQueen, 2013)
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TIME IN ARCHITECTURE
One of the reasons why I really like Forte Lane as our project site this year is because it reflects aging and weathering as it allowed us to enhance a sense of time. Architect and phenomenologist Juhani Pallasma supports the time passage, unlike the trend to prevent the architecture from aging as if it is brand new. Materials used to keep architecture new changes the reality of time. (Pallasmaa, 2005) Awareness of our surroundings can decrease architectural objectivity by material characteristics that alter over time. Moreover, adding commemorative work in a similar manner evokes awareness about the past through comparison. (Pallasmaa, 2000)
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INTENTION - SITE OF MEMORY
I intend to explore the idea of the phenomenon of memory in my design so Forte lane can be more than an object or a physical construction. I want to resist objectification on Forte Lane and create an environment that allows inhabitants to move through the lane as commemorative space to set a connection between space and memory. I want to construct an urban space, where memories can revive an awareness of the past as what has changed over time and what still exists today. As the phenomenological condition of space has the ability to recall memories through light, temperature, texture, scent, sound and visual cues serve as triggers of memory, all of these qualities can generate an atmospheric space. (Bencivengo, 2012) My aim is not to change our understanding of collective memories shared at the site, but encouraging the development of an awareness of our relationship to the past of the site, to treat memory as an existence rather than an objectification or representation. ‘Les lieux de Memoire’ translates to ‘site of memory’ is a concept developed by Pierre Nora. She believes that society has moved further away from memory and the most manageable way to remind ourselves of history is through spaces of memory; museums, memorials, archives, libraries, cemeteries. (Bencivengo, 2012) She states, “These lieux de mémoire are fundamental remains, the ultimate embodiments of a memorial consciousness that have barely survived in a historical age that calls out for memory because it has abandoned it.” (Bencivengo, 2012, pp6) But over time memorials and monuments have become objects, that have lost the hope of human interaction and lack experiment qualities that are shared by space and memories. (Nora, 1989) I want to explore ways of truly gaining a sense of past, without reducing to typical plaques, fountains or columnar objects because these are unable to capture the essence of past that is deeply embedded in our memories. I think that a symbolic representation of commemoration in my design should also include the perspective of tourist, who can not relate to the history of New Zealand or outside observer who is not part of the events being remembered because a design should allow the collective memory to be more publically accessible as it should bring moments in time rather than a direct illustration. “In memorable experiences of architecutre space, matter and time fuse into a single dimension, into the basic substance of being, that penetrates consiousness. We indenitify ourselves with this space, this place, this moment, and these dimensions become ingredients of our very existence. Architecture is the art of recinciliation between ourselves and the world, and this mediation takes place through the senses.” (Pallasmaa, 2005, pp37.
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Fig. 1: Kamal Kaur (2017), Imagining void spaces.
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METHOD
Site analysis and contextual research have shaped my perception of this site. Through weekly writing exercises, I was able to develop my thinking process and develop my ideas over time. It gave me opportunities to plan ahead for my project. I was able to experiment and portray design into drawings and model making. (Fig. 1) In my atmospheric drawings, I attempted to script my design and began to imagine, how I could work with void spaces and negative space by studying light. These drawings were inspired by Steven Holl and Hiroshi Sugimoto (Fig. 2) Contrasting proportion and (Fig. 3) developing composition were a development of my atmospheric drawings. In these images, I attempted to explore different ways of translating the atmospheric images into atmospheric models. It was an attempt to create life in the image by turning a drawing into spaces that could be occupied. I explored different ways forte lane could be inhabited. Due to the characteristics of the lane, I did not want an odd position that creates a sense of over crowdedness on the lane. I experimented with different composition while making models and digitally editing them to imagine, how the street will change with the placement of my design. I am mainly interested in elevating my design from the ground, so the inhabitants can grab the opportunity to be lifted above from the dull and chaotic lane into space where they are able to see the lane from a different perspective. As portrayed in (fig. 6) or (fig. 8) the aim was to create different spaces can trigger different moments of the day, depending on varying heights. In next stage, I intend to use this idea to develop my plan and section.
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Fig. 2: Kamal Kaur (2017), Contrasting proportion.
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Fig. 3: Kamal Kaur (2017), Developing composition
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Fig. 4: Kamal Kaur (2017), Occupied space
Fig. 5: Kamal Kaur (2017), Five colomns
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Fig. 6: Kamal Kaur (2017), Model elevation
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Fig. 7: Kamal Kaur (2017), light and shadow
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Fig. 8: Kamal Kaur (2017), Looking outside
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Fig. 9 Kamal Kaur (2017), Inhabiting spaces
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REFERENCE LIST Bencivengo, G. (2012). Beyond the Object: The phenomenon of Memory in Architecture. Syracuse University Surface. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1198&context=architecture_tpreps Jacobson, B. (2005). Construction of Cinematic Space: Spatial Practice at the Intersection of Film and Theory. Comparative Media Studies. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from http://cmsw.mit.edu/ wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/146381067-Brian-Jacobson-Constructions-of-Cinematic-SpaceSpatial-Practice-at-the-Intersection-of-Film-and-Theory.pdf?x43162 Hornstein, S. (2011). Losing site: Architecture, Memory and Place. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing ltd. Lefebvre, H. (1996). The right to the city, pp. 147-159). In E. Kofman & E. Lebas (Eds.), Writing on cities: Henri Lefebvre (E. Kofman & E. Lebas, Trans.). London: Blackwell McQueen, S. (2013). 12 Years a Slave. Hollywood: Lionsgate. Nora, P. (1989). Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de MĂŠmoire. Representations, (26), 7-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2928520 Pallasmaa, J. (2000). Hapticity and Time: Notes on Fragile Architecture (pp. 80-81). The Architectural Review. Pallasmaa, J. (2005). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses (p. 52). London: Academy Editions. Wiberg, M. (2011). Interactive textures for architecture and landscaping (pp. 54-71). Hershey, Pa [u.a.]: Engineering Science Reference.
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FIGURES Figure 1: KAUR, Kamal. 2017. Imagining void spaces. (Ink drawings). Figure 2: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Imagining void spaces. (Combing ink drawings digital drawing). Figure 3: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Developing composition. (Combing ink drawings digital drawing) Figure 4: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Occupied space. (Digital rendering of perspective model) Figure 5: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Five colomns. (Digital drawing) Figure 6: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Model elevation. (Photograph of perspective model) Figure 7: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Looking outside. (Digital rendering of perspective model) Figure 8: KAUR, Kamal (2017), Inhabiting spaces. (Digital rendering of perspective model)
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