A New Direction

Last week, I took a turn and dove into collage as a means of searching for an answer to my questions. How would I take this project forward? What constraints am I choosing to work within? And, of course, How do I build the other half? 

I seem to have come across a solution (in a basic form) that works with the site and the constraints. 

This idea involves a rethinking of the other half. Thinking of the project as a way to remember the other half --not re-build it-- these collages are looking at the opportunity that arises when the other half becomes a courtyard that you can move through, experiencing the memory of the old. My 'intervention' into the site would rest on the side/back of the site and help create this courtyard space. Both of these collages are very preliminary, and through they do not necessarily correspond to each other exactly, they were exploring different approaches to the same idea:: a new architectural intervention working with the old one, that creates a space where the memory of the pre-existing structure can come through.

As I look into the presence of memory, I can't help but think of a wonderful project by Peter Zumthor. The Kolumba, Art Museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne, located in Germany, is a fantastic example of the new meeting the old, and the presence of memory. There is a large room where Roman and Medieval ruins were found, where Zumthor designed a catwalk that weaves through the ruins. The ceiling is supported by a series of skinny columns that come down and elegantly touch the ground, passing through the ruins. Images can be found here.

More collages will be coming soon as I explore this idea of the residual presence of memory.

Documentation

As November begins, I am knee deep in this thesis. The architect of the project has not returned my many calls/emails, so there is little hope left in obtaining survey drawings for this historic structure. But, on the bright side, I found a few images on his website that will assist me in the documentation of this project.

I painstakingly counted the bricks on the front facade so that I could draw an elevation for my midterm. The drawing has since been completed (above), a documentation of the existing structure with every visible brick counted and drawn. This process has brought me much closer to the building, I feel as though I am beginning to know it and care for it. My next goal is to have a back elevation and a west elevation.


As I do these meticulous drawings, I will also be working in a looser and messier parallel. I am taking this front elevation and collaging it with ideas about space/place in a series of images. With these collages I hope to take a stance on what the 'other half' will be.