Build On Absence

By h0932328 / 16 November, 2014 / 10/2014 3 MIN Presentation / No Comments

A cycle/ dynamic between presence and absence

“Space is the presence of absence” Peter Eisenman
“Rather than fall victim to trying to compete with the great iconographic landmarks of the world or develop another version of the “Architecture is made of memory. The slope of a roof, the shape of a window, and the color of a door contain the record of the minds that conceived them and the hands that crafted them.” Anthony Lawlor
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” Frank Gehry
“Memories are products of our body’s experience of physical space.” Donlyn Lyndon
“Good places are structured so that they attract and hold memories; they are sticky—or perhaps you would rather say magnetic.”

WHAT?

Presence and Absence Dynamics

Opposing to what we constructed, this thesis would emphasize on what we lost. The loss may be caused from conscious abandonment or renewal, to human conflicts or warfare, accidents or natural catastrophes. To response is about how to present and celebrate the absence that constitutes our memory, history and identity. A sense of absence could be recognized by cognition and knowledge, amplified by visual and spatial perception. Missing of solid mass evokes the sense of absence as well as presence of void, striking mind and memory. Memorial, which captures the loss and absence, acts in directly opposite with the monuments, which captures the gain and presence, and marks the collective memory and identity of a city and human being.

WHY?

Lost and Memory among Time

Build On Absence_WHY

Memory and history remind us who we are and what today is. It is not nostalgia but continuity with the past, as well as endurance and hope for a brighter future. Built form is so powerful in commemorating history and retaining memory physically among change of time. It is about sensibility of passage of time and human awareness of identity. Hong Kong, being a fast-pace society, changes dramatically focusing very often on what we gained and reached without deep concerning about what we lost and sacrificed. Tradition fades with fast development without treasure. People are feeling lost in the metropolitan without a tight connection to the cul- ture and history. So, there have to be something more which traces back to our root and sentiment collectively to the place we live.

HOW?

Memorial for the City of Anarchy, Kowloon City

First, analyze and examine the precedent works about presenting the absence through manipulating solid and void and interplay- ing between perception and memory. Second, design and test the techniques to celebrate the sense of absence in spatial experience. Third, investigate the lost tradition and memory in Hong Kong. To move on, re-examine the design and capacity in memory liberation using the Kowloon City Memorial Park at the site of former Kowloon Walled City as a ground

Tags: MEDIATING