#chronotopics

[chronotopics]

A Collection of Memories

“Uroborus: The Mellontic Archeion”, a thesis by Luis Orozco

Can you recall the last time you got lost in a phrase, a sentence, a book, a collection, or an entire world of mythical beliefs beyond the shelves of the library? What ifyou could have the ability to spend an endless amount of time in anarchive full of these moments? Imagine yourself as Alice in a wonderland full of past ideologies and mythical belief systems at your fingertips, waiting to be explored and experienced. These are some of the thoughts imagined in my head for this project of collecting.

“A collection of artifacts, humans and human moments” describe the architect's programmatic and conceptual framework for this project. These elements were only explained to the extent of their purpose: to understand the world, to describe society, to discover possibilities.

The narrative spoke of “getting lost in the stacks”: where specific moments, experiences or feelings could be created between the artifact, the user and the architecture. It was unclear whether these experiences were figurative or literal. Are these moments purely imagined and experiential spaces? Where the user feels the comfort of “curling up by the fire”? Or could these experiences be constructed in a literal sense of disorientation, such as The Library of Babel; or a labyrinth of collections that offers three doors to open after every turn? Interweaving vessels and compartments that constantly move about, as a string of possible future search engines from the one before, an endless discovery.

The experienced moments have the possibility of recreating a place in time of the described artifact. If the archive holds the knowledge and ideologies of previous cultures, could the act of studying the map of mythical sea creatures create a scene surrounding the user that depicts that belief? The spaces have the ability manipulate and encourage human moments within the collection.

The archive was described to house three categories, which were developed by Aristotle: theoria, praxis, and poiesis. It was unclear as to what extent of knowledge and artifacts would be collected, although the “appropriation of past or existing knowledge that may no longer be relevant” was a reoccurring theme. If the categorization system will not be designed, then I believe it to be helpful for the architect to narrow down the archive to specific categories and subcategories to aid in the design of human moments, interactions and relationships. This could also focus the lens on the project's purpose.

To house the collections, the architect proposed “an orbiting space station”. A vessel that collects artifacts, humans and human moments is a poetic concept that mimics the cyclical nature of the uroborus. Yet, the decided site use of space was undefined and somewhat complicated the project's objectives.

I am also curious about the humans assigned to this library. This “transient community that comes to maintain a collection”. Who are they? How are they chosen? Why would they want to be chosen? Could this be a community of researchers that have the ability to explore the endless depths of the archive for a period of time? Therefore they would be able to forward their knowledge back to greater amounts of people.

This collection of artifacts, humans and human moments has the ability to take on an array of scales and sites. But what should remain consistent is the project's overall concept and purpose. I look forward to hearing the architect's further decisions in the next discussion.

Carmen Petersen

[chronotopics]

A Review of Youyou Chen’s Thesis Project ”FACT”

REVIEWED BY PARISA MARD MEHDIABADI

Youyou Chen’s “FACT” thesis project criticizes China’s globalization and its rapid attempt to consolidate and extend its air and land holdings by constructing artificial islands.  The project uses the format of a Chinese scroll to depict a narrative that speaks of a power struggle between two islands. In this story, the Green Island is forced to colonize a neighboring island due to internal and external pressures. As a result, an aircraft carrying soldiers is sent to the Red Island. Once the aircraft landed, it is transformed into a permanent architecture in form of an airport providing the military base for the massacre of the natives. Although the story is dark, the cyclical nature of this narrative points to human nature’s tendency and desire for control and power. In Chen’s project, architecture is the physical manifestation of power. The aircraft is not only the catalyst for movement but it is also the locus of authority and control.

Chen’s project is similar to that of Thomas Hillier’s thesis, The Emperor’s Castle. In both cases, the authors use narratives to depict and legitimize a specific architectural intervention. The assumed simplicity of the Chinese traditional painting is an effective tool to depict Chen’s ambitious outlook on power and urban development. 

Thomas Hillier’s Thesis project “The Emperor’s Castle”

Youyou Chen’s Thesis project “FACT”

It is important however for the author to know the limits as well as the strength of this technique. Chinese perspective uses parallel oblique drawing technique that keeps true the elevation of objects while distorting distance between them. As the project develops it would be interesting to see when Chen decides to follow or masterfully diverge from the rules set up by this drawing technique.

Chen’s project has a built up of many complex layers and it was apparent during the pin up that the reviewers had a hard time following the information. It is critical for Chen to simplify his narration for the presentation. Some of the theoretical information could be conveyed through simple diagrams. The presentation layout is another critical element for Chen. Even though Chen would like to use Mobius strip as a three-dimension representation of the cyclic quality of the story, it might be beneficial to think of ways in which a linear format could imply a loop or continuation.

The airport design is fundamental to Chen’s thesis and it needs as much attention and development as the narration. One of the ways in which the architecture can become the protagonist of the story is to think how the ideals presented in the narration manifest itself in architectural forms. To emphasize the architecture, a narration based on a soldier’s point of view can provide clarity as well as direction for the project. Based on this perspective, the first hand accounts of the setting and the architecture can strength the narrative as well as the architecture of the aircraft. Again, it is imperative for Chen to realize how architecture can enforce or deflect the values and ideas that are set within the narrative. How can the narrative and architecture inform one another?