MEMORY DEVICES

08 August 2016 Architectural Association, London Through fabricating a memory, can we empower communities to counter present-dominant narratives? Can we reimagine a future that understands what we would like to take forward and the traces we would like to remember of the past? As memories of events fade, spaces that we have created like buildings or other physical structures often maintain meaning that no longer represents their current use or value, limiting our imaginations to their possibilities of change. Taking London as the catalyst for reconstructing either personal or collective memories, the unit created 1:1 devices that challenged the essence of time and its transcendental nature within our minds as well as the surrounding built environment. Exploring the ephemeral relationship between memory and place, the unit has created narratives, spaces and objects to construct superfluous devices that have multiple meanings. As a unit we integrated both mechanical and electronic features into our device proposals to demonstrate unforeseen responsive conditions that trigger specific emotions, which in turn might form new relationships between spaces and its inhabitants. Finally, our devices tried to demonstrate oscillations between personal and public moments that created a nomadic and fluid space-time continuum, constantly shifting like the spaces we occupy and our memories of them. For more information: Summer School 2016 – London Time Unit 6 - Memory Devices Brief Unit 6 on summerschool.aaschool.ac.uk Memory Devices blog Summer School 2011 - Unit 3: Installation City 3013 Summer School 2015 - Unit 7: City in Pieces