a-60 2000 juhani pallasmaa 2007 . space place memory and imagination the temporal dimension of...
TRANSCRIPT
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8/9/2019 A-60 2000 Juhani Pallasmaa 2007 . Space Place Memory and Imagination the Temporal Dimension of Existential Sp…
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House
f Si lence
y JuhaniPal lasmaa
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uhani allasmaa
I
Space,
lace, emoryand
magination:
heTemporal
Dimension
f
Existentialpace
Theime
perspectiven architecture
Architecture
s usua[[y een
n futuristicerms;
ovel uitdings re
understoodo
probe
nd
project
n unforeseen
eality,
nd
architectural
uality
s directly ssoci-
ated
ith tsdegree
f novelty nduniqueness.
odernityt
arge asbeen
omin-
ated
y his
uturistic ias.
Yet,
he
appreciationf
newness as
probably
ever
been
s obsessive
s n today's
ultof spectacularrchitectural
magery.n our
globatized
orld,
ewness
s not onlyan aesthetic nd
artistic alue,
t is a stra-
tegic
ecessity
f the cutture f
consumption,nd
consequentty,n
nseparable
ingredientf
oursurreaI
aterialistulture.
However,uman onstructions
avealso he
ask o
preserve
he
past,
and
enables o
experiencend
grasp
hecontinuum
f culture nd
radit ion. edo
not
nly xist
n
a spatial
nd
materialeality, e also
nhabit ultural,
ental nd
temporaI
ealities. ur
existentialnd
ived eality
s
a thick,
ayered ndconstantly
oscillating
ondition.
rchitecture
s essentiallyn art
formof
reconciliationnd
mediat ion,nd
n addit iono sett l ing
s n space nd
place,
andscapesnd
buitd-
ings rticulateur
experiencesf
duration nd imebetween
he
polarities
f
past
and
uture.
n fact,along
with he entire orpus
f literature nd he
arts, and-
scapes nd
buitdings onstitute
he
most mportant xternalization
f
human
memory.
e understand
nd remember
howe are hrough
ur construct ions,
bothmaterial ndmental.Weatso
udge
lienandpastcultureshroughhe evid-
ence
rovided
y hearchitectural
tructures
hey
have
roduced.
uitdings
roiect
enic
arratives.
In additiono
practical urposes,
rchitecturaltructures
avea significant
existential
nd
mental ask; hey
domesticatepace
or humanoccupation
y
turning
nonymous,
niform nd
imit lesspace
ntodist inct
laces
f human
significance,
ndequally
mportantly,hey
makeendlessime olerable
y
giving
durat ion
tshuman
easure.sKarsten
arries,he
philosopher,
rgues:
Architecture
elps o replace
meaninglessealitywith a theatrically,
r ratherarchitecturally,
kansformedeatity,which drawsus in and, as we surrendero it, grantsus an illusionof
meaning
. . wecannotive
withchaos. haos
ust e ransformed
nto
osmos. '
"Archi tecture
s not only about
domest icat ing
pace.
t is
also
a deep defence
againsthe
erroroftime",
he states
n
another
ontext. '
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2OO7:JUHANI PALLASMAA
Attogether,
nvironmentsnd bui td ings o not onlyserve
pract icaI
nd ut i l i -
tarian
purposes;
heyalsostructure ur understandingf the wortd. [Thehouse] s
an instrumentwith which
to confront he cosmos".as Gaston
Bachelard
tates.3
The abstract
and
indefinable otion
of
cosmos s
atways
present
and
represented
in
our immediate andscape. very andscape
nd
everybui td ing s
a
condensed
wor ld,a microcosmicepresentat ion.
Architecturend
memory
We al l remember
he
way
archi tectural
mages
wereut i l ized s
mnemonic
evices
by the oratorsof
antiquity.
Actual
architectural tructures, s we[[as
mere emem-
beredarchitecturalmagesand metaphors eryeas significantmemorydevicesn
three differentways: f irst,
they
materialize
nd
preserve
he courseof time and
make t
v is ib le; econd,heyconcret izeemembrancey containing
nd
project ing
memories;
nd, th i rd, they st imulateand inspire
us to
reminisce
nd
imagine,
Memory
nd
fantasy, ecollection
nd magination re elated nd hey havealways
a si tuat ional nd speci f ic ontent .Onewho cannot emember an hardly magine,
because
memory s
the soi l of imaginat ion. emory s also the
ground
of sel f '
identity;we
arewhatwe
remember.
Bui ld ings
restorage
ouses
nd museums f t ime and si lence. rchi tectural
structures ave
he
capacity
f transforming,peeding p, slowing ownand hatting
time. They can also createand protectsilence ollowingKierkegaard'sequest:
"Create i lence "+n the view of Max Picard,
he
phi losopher
f s i lence: Nothing
has
changedhe nature f manso much
as he
oss
of s i lence."5
Si lence
o
onger
existsas a world,but only in fragments,
s the
remains f
a
world."6Architecture
has
o
preserve
he memory f the world of silence
nd o
protect
he
existing rag-
ments
of this
fundamental
ntological tate.As we enter
a
Romanesque onastery
we can
stil l
experience
he benevolent i lence f the universe.
There
re,of course,
ar t icular
ui td ingypes, uchas memorials,ombsand
museums hat are del iberately
onceived nd bui t t
or
the
purpose
f
preserving
and evokingmemories
nd speci f ic mot ions; u i ld ings an maintain eel ings f
gr iefand ecstasy, e lancholynd oy,aswelIas earand hope.Attbui td ings ain-
ta in our
percept ion
f temporaldurat ion
nd depth,and they
record
nd suggest
cul tural nd humannarrat ives. e
cannotconceive r
remember
ime as a mere
physicaI
imension; e can only
grasp
ime hrough
ts
actual izat ions;he t races,
places
nd events f temporal ccurrence.
oseph
rodsky
oints
out
another
ef i -
c iency
of
human memory
as he wr i tesabout he composi temagesof c i t ies n
humanmemory
nd
inds
hesecitiesalways mpty: [Thecityof memory]s empty
because or
an
imaginat ion t is
easier o conjurearchi tecturehan human
being5."zs
this he
nherent eason
hywe archi tectsend o th inkof archi tecture
more n
termsof
i ts mater iaI
x istencehan he t i feand human i tuat ionshattake
place
n the spaces e havedesigned?
ArchitecturaI
tructures acil itatememory;
our understanding f the depthof
time
would
be decisively eaker, or nstance, ithout
he
mdge
of the
pyramids
n
our minds.The mere mage
of a
pyramid
marksand concret izes
ime.
We
also
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SPACE, LACE,
MEMOFY AND
IMAGINATION
rememberur own chi tdhood
argelyhrough he
houses nd
places
hat
we have
l ived
n.We
have
projected
nd
hidden
parts
of our ives
n
l ived
andscapes nd
houses,xact ly s the orators laced hemesof theirspeechesn the context f
imaginedui td ings.
he recol lect ion
f
places
and
rooms
generates
he
recal l
ofeventsnd
people.
I was child f hat
ouse,il led ith hememoryf
tssmells,itted ith he
coolnessf ts
haltways,il led ith he
oiceshat ad
iven
t
tife.
here as venhe ong f
he rogsn he
pools;
heVameobe
withme ere,
reminisces
ntoine e Saint-Exup6ry,he
legendary
i lot
and
wri ter ,af ter
having
crash- landed
i th his
olane
n a sand
desertn North
Afr ica.B
Themental
power
of fragments
lnhisnoveIThe
Notebooks f Malte
LauridsBrigge,RainerMaria
Rilke
gives
a sim-
i lar lymoving ecord f a
distantmemory f
home
and
sel f ,ar is ing
rom ragments
of he
grandfather 's
ouse n the
protagonist 's
emory:
As recovert
n ecall ingy hild-wrought
emories,t sno ompteteuilding:
t sallbrokenp
inside e;
ere room,here room,nd
ere
piece
fhatlwayhat
oes ot o nnecthesewo
roomsut spreserved,sa ragment,y tself.n hiswayt salldispersedithinme . . all hat
isstit l
nme ndwitl evereaseo
be nme.t sas houghhe
picture
f his
ousead allen
intome rom
n
nfiniteeightnd
ad hatteredgainst
y ery
round.e
The emembered
mage r ises
raduatty,
iece
by
piece,
rom ragments f
memory
asa
painted
Cubist
icture
merges
romdetached
isualmot i fs.
I have wr i t tenabout
my own memories
f my
grandfather 's
umble arm
house, nd
pointed
ut hat he
memory
ouse
f
my ear ly hi tdhood
s
a
col tage f
f ragments,mel ls,
ondi t ions f t ight , peci f ic
eet ings f enclosure
nd nt imacy,
but
arely
recise
nd
complete isuaI
ecol lect ions. y eyes
have orgot ten hat
they
nce aw,but
my bodyst i t [
emembers.
Bui td ings nd heir
emains uggest
tor ies f
human ate,both ealand
mag-
inary.Ruins t imulate s
to th ink of l ives hat
havealready
isappeared, nd to
imaginehe
fate
of their
deceased ccupants.
uinsand
erodedsett ings
ave
a
special
vocat ive
nd emot ionaI
ower;
hey
orce
us to
reminisce nd
imagine.
lncompleteness
nd ragmentat ion
ossess
speciaI
vocat ive
ower.
n medieval
i l tustrat ions
nd Renaissance
aint ings
rchi tecturalet t ings
reof ten
depicted s
a mereedge
of a wal l or a
windowopening, ut the
isolated ragment uf f ices
o
conjure p the
exper iencef a
complete onstructed
ett ing.
his s
the
secret f
the ar t of co[ [age ut a lso somearchi tects, uch as , |ohnSoaneand AlvarAal to
have
aken
advantage
f
this
emot ionaI
ower
f the archi tecturaI
ragment. i tke 's
descr ipt ion
f the
imagesof l i fe l ived
n
a
demol ished
ouse
r iggered
y the
remains nd stains
ef t on the end
wal l of the neighbour ing
ouse, s a stunning
record f he
wavsof human
memory:
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PALLASMAA
Butmost
orgettablef al l
were hewalls hemselves.
he
tubborn
ife
of hese
ooms adnot
tet tsetf e rampled
ut.
t wasst i l l here;
t clungo the
nails hat
hadbeeneft here,
t stood
on he
emaining
and-breadthf
f looring,t crouchednder
hecorner
oints
whereherewas
st it t
t i t t le i t of nterior.
necoutd ee
hat t was
n
he
paint
which,
ear
y
year,
adstowly
altered:
tue nto
moldy
reen, reen
nto
grey,
nd
yellow
ntoan
old,stale
ottingwhite.'o
Spatiality
ndsituationality
f memory
Our recol lect ions
re si tuat ionaI
nd spat ia l ized
memories,hey
are
memories
attached
o
places
and events.
t is
hard o recall,
or instance,
familiar
or iconic
photograph
s
a two-dimensional
mage on
photographic
aper;we tend to
remember he depicted object, person or event in its full spatial
reality.
t is
obvious,hat
our existent ia l
pace
s never two-dimensional
ictor ia l
pace,
t
is
a tivedand
multi-sensory
pacesaturated
nd structured
y memories
nd
inten-
tions.
We keep
projecting
meanings
nd signification
o
everything
e encounter,
have arelydisagreed
ith the
viewsof
Joseph
Brodsky,
ne of
my house
gods,
but
when he argues hat
after
havingseen touristic
buitdings,
uch as
Westminster
Abbey, he
EiffelTower,St
Basil 's, he
Tai Mahal or the
Acropolis,
we
retain
not
their
three-dimensional
mage but their
pr inted
version",
and
concludes hat
"strictty
speaking,
we
remember ot a
place
but our
postcard
f
it",* | have o
dis'
agreewith the
poet.
We do not
rememberhe
postcard
ut the
real
place
pictured
in it. A recailed mage s alwaysmore han he onceseen mage tself. n my view,
Brodsky
presents
rushedargument
ere,
perhaps
misguided y Susan
Sontag's
ideas of the
power
of the
photographed
mage
in her seminal
book 0n
Photography."
Pictures, b jects,
ragments,
nsigni f icant
hings,al l
serveas
condensat ion
centres
or our
memories.
arkko
Laine, he
Finnish
poet,
writesabout
he
rote f
objects
n
his memory:
I
t ike
ookingt hese
hings.don't eek
esthetic
leasure
n hem
. . nordo
recallheir
origins:
hat snot
mportant.ut ven o
hey tlarouse
emories,
eal nd magined.
poem
isa thinghat rousesemoriesf eal nd maginedhings. . Thehingsn hewindowd
like
poem.
hey re
mageshat
onot eftectnything
. . I sing f he
hings
n
he
window.'3
The signi f icance
f objects
n our
processes
f
remember ing
s
the
main
reasonwhy
we like to collect
amiliaror
peculiar
obiects
aroundus; they
expand
and
reinforcehe
realmof
memories, nd
eventually, f
our verysense
of setf.
ew
of the objects
we
possess
are
really
neededstrictly
or
util i tarian
purposes;
heir
function
s
sociaI
and
menta[.
l
am what
s around
me", argues
WallaceStevens,'4
whereas
Nde[Arnaud, nother
oet ,
c la ims:
l am the space,
where
am." '5
hese
condensed
ormulations
y two
poets
emphasize
he
intertwining f
the wortd nd
the self
as well as he
externalized
round
of
remembrancend
dentity.
A roomcanalso
be ndiv idual ized
nd aken
ntoone's
possession
yturning
i t into a
place
of
dreaming;he acts
of memoriz ing
nd
dreaming re
nterrelated,
As Bachelard
uts
it: "The
house shetters
daydreaming,he
house
protects
he
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SPACE,
LACE,MEMORYAND
IMAGINATION
dreamer,
he houseal lowsone
to
dream
n
peace." '6
fundamental
ual i ty
of a
landscape,ouse
nd room s i ts capaci ty
o evoke nd contain feet ing
f safety,
famit iar i tyndat-homenessnd o st imulateantasies. earenot capabte f deep
imaginat ionutdoors n wi td
nature;
profound
maginat ion
a[ [s or
the
focusing
int imacy
f a room.Forme,
he realmeasure f
the
quat i ty
f a town s whether
canmaginemysetfat t ingn
love here.
Theivedworld
Wedo not l ive n
an object ive or ld
of
matter
and facts,
as
commonplace
arVe
real ismends
o ass ume. he character ist ical lyuman
mode of existence
akes
placen the wor ldsof possibi t i t ies, ouldedby the humancapaci ty f remem-
brance,antasy
nd
imaginat ion.
e I ive n mental
wor lds, n which
he mater ia l
and he spir i tua[ ,
s
wel l
as the exper ienced,emembered
nd imagined,
on-
stant lyuse ntoeachother.As
a consequence,he I ived eal i ty
oesnot ol low
he
rules
f space nd imeas def ined
nd
measured
y he
science f
physics.
wish
to
argue
hat the I ivedwor ld s fundamental ly
unscient i f ic" ,
hen measured y
the
cr i ter ia
f western mpir ical
c ience.
n
fact , he l ivedwortd s
closer o the
real i ty
f dream han any scient i f ic escr ipt ion.
n order
o
dist inguish
he t ived
spacerom
physicat
nd
geometr icaI
pace,we cancatI t existent ia l
pace. ived
existent ia l
pace
s
structured n the
basisof meanings,ntent ions
nd values
ref lectedpon t by an indiv idua[ , i ther onsciouslyr unconsciously;x istent ia l
spaces a unique
quat i ty
nterpreted
hrough he memory
nd exper ience f
the
indiv iduat .
veryivedexper ience
akes
place
at
the
inter face
f reco[ lect ion
nd
intent ion,
ercept ion
nd fantasy,memory
nd desire. .S.Et iot
br ings or th
he
important
air ing
f opposi tesn
the endof his our th
quartet ,
L i t t leGidding":
What e
allhebeginningsoftenheend. nd
omake nend s omake
beginning. . We
shalL
ot
ceaserom xploration.nd heend
of allourexptoringil lbe
o anive here e
started.nd now
he
lace
or
he irstime.'7
On the otherhand,
col tect ive
roups
or even nat ions,
harecertainexper i -
ences f existent iaI
pace hat const i tuteheir cot lect ive
dent i t ies nd
senseof
togetherness.e
are,
perhaps,
eld ogether y our
sharedmemoriesmore
han
byan nnate ense f
sol idar i ty.
wish
o reca[ [ ere
he
amous
ociologicaltudy
by Maur iceHalbwachshat revealed
hat the ease of mutual
communicat ion
between
ld
Par is ians
iv ingwithina dist inct
uar ter
as
grounded
n
their
ich
and
shared ot lect ive emor ies.
The
ivedspace s also he object
and
context
f both he making
nd exper i -
encing f
art as
well
as architecture. rt
projects
lived eality,not mere
symbolic
representat ionsf l i fe.The ask of archi tecture,lso, s " to makevis ib lehow he
wor ld ouches
us", as
Mer leau-Ponty
rote of the
paint ings
f Paul C6zanne. 'B
We ive n the
" f lesh
of
the
wor ld" ,
o use a not ionof
the
phi losopher,
nd land-
scapesand archi tecture t ructure
nd ar t iculate his existent ia l lesh
giving
t
speci f ic
or izons
ndmeanings.
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2OO7:JUHANI
PALLASMAA
Experiences exchange
Theexper ience
f a
ptace
or space
s always cur ious
xchange; s
I
set t le
n a
space,he space et t les
n me. l ive
n a ci tyand he ci ty
dwel ls n me.
We
are
n a
constant xchange
i th our set t ings;
imuttaneously
e nternal izehe set t ing
nd
project
ur own
bodies,or aspects
f our bodyschemes,
n the set t ing.
Memory
and actual i ty,
ercept ion
nd
dreammerge. hissecret
hysicat
nd
mentaI nter"
twining
and ident i f icat ion lso takes
ptace
n
al l
ar t ist icexper ience.
n
, |oseph
Brodsky's iew every
poem
el ls
he reader Be
[ ike me". 'e
Here ies he ethical
power
f a l l authent ic
orksof ar t ;we
nternal izehemand
ntegratehemwith
our
verysenseof self.
A fine
piece
of music,
poetry
or architecture ecomes
part
of
my
physical
nd
moral
sel f .
TheCzech r i ter
BohumilHrabal
ives
a viv iddescr ip-
t ionof th is bodi lyassociat ionn the actof reading:
When
read,don't eatlyead;
pop
beautiful
entence
n mymouth nd uck
t
ike
ruit
drop r sip
t t ike iqueurntilhe hought
issolvesnme ike lcohol,
nfusing
y
brain
nd
heart nd oursingn hroughhe
einso he oot feach lood
essel. 'o
Remember ing
s not onlya
mentalevent; t is a lsoan
act of embodiment
nd
project ion.
emor ies re
not
onty
hidden n the secret
lectrochemical
rocesses
of the brain; hey
arealsostored
n ourskeletons, uscles
ndskin.At loursenses
andorgans
hinkand
remember.
Theembodied
memory
I can ecal l he
hundreds f hoteI oomsaround
he wor ld,which
have emporar i ly
inhabi ted ur ing
my ivedecades f t ravel l ing,
i th heir urni ture,
olour chemes
and t ight ing,
ecause have nvested
nd lef t
par ts
of
my bodyand my
mind n
theseanonymous
nd insigni f icant
ooms.The
protagonist
f MarcelProust 's
n
Search
f Lost ime
reconstructs
imilarly
is very
dentityand ocation hrough
his
embodiedmemory:
Mybody,ti l l ooheavy
ith
leep
omove, ould ndeavour
oconstrueromhe
pattern
f ts
tirednesshe
position
f
ts ariousimbs,norderodeduceherefrom
hedirection
f hewall,
the ocationf he
urniture,o
piece
ogethernd
ive
nameo hehouse
nwhicht tay.ts
memory,he
compositeemoryf ts
ibs,tsknees,tsshoulder-blades,
fferedt a whole
series
f oomsnwhicht had toneime
ranotherlept, hiteheunseen
alls,hift ingnd
adaptingthemselves
o he hapefeach uccessive
oomhat t
remembered,hirtedt
n
he
dark. .
mybody, outdecallrom ach
oomnsuccessionhe tyle fthe
ed,he
position
f
the
doors,
he
angtetwhichhe unlight
amenat hewindows,hetherhere
as
passage
outside,
hathad adnmind hen
wentosleep ndoundhere
henawoke."
We are againencounter ingn
exper iencehat br ings
o mind a
fragmented
Cubist omposi t ion.
e
are aught
o th ink of
memory s a cerebral apaci ty,
ut
the
actof memory ngages
urent i re ody.
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SPACE,PLiACE,MEMORY AND IMAGINATION
"Body
memory s . . . the natural enterof any sensitive ccount f remember-
ing",
phitosopher
dwardS. Casey rgues n his seminalbook Memorizing: Phe-
nomenologicaltudy, nd concludes:Theres no memorywithoutbodymemory.""
Inmyview, e coutd ayeven
more;
ody
s not
ontythe ocus f remembrance,t is
alsohesiteand
medium
f al[
creative ork, ncluding
he
work
of the architect.
Memory ndemotion
Inaddi t iono beingmemory evices,andscapesnd bui ld ings realsoampl i f iers
ofemot ions;hey einforceensat ionsf betonging r a l ienat ion,nvi tat ion r re jec-
tion, ranquill i ty r despair.A landscape r work of architecture annot,however,
createeelings. hroughheirauthority nd aura, heyevokeand strengthen ur own
emotions nd
project
hem back o us as if these e elingsof ours had an external
source.n the Laurentian ibraryn Florenceconfrontmy own senseof metaphysi-
calmelancholywakened nd
projected
ackby
Michelangelo 's
rchi tecture.he
opt imismhat I exper ience
hen
approachinghe
Paimio
Sanator ium
s my
own
sense f hopeevoked nd strengthenedy
AlvarAalto's
optimistic rchitecture.
he
hillof the meditation
rove
at the
WoodlandCemeteryn
Stockholm,
or instance,
evokes state of longingand
hope
hroughan
image
hat
is
an
invitation
and a
promise.
his archi tectural
mage
of
landscape vokes
simultaneously
emem-
brance nd
maginat ion
s he
composi te
ainted
mage f ArnotdBr jckt in 's
ls land
ofDeath" . l l poet icmages recondensat ionsnd microcosms.
The modernistarchitectureof
the
Paimio
Sanator ium
rojects
images f hopeand healing.
AlvarAal to ,Paimio uberculosis
Sanator ium, a imio, 929-33
195
. *@.
IW..@
."#.. . .
W
-
f f i ,
d
.w
nC
/#&"#
.
r.rliiffiirli:..,ii@illllri,.rilliffillll:
lrir:iiffilllll:i:iiiir@lll:rrirli6lll:rrrir:€
-
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196
2OO7:
JUHANI PALLASMAA
The Medi ta t ionGroveon the
hil l san imageof
hope and resurrect ion. unnar
Asplundand
SigurdLewerentz,
The Woodland
cemeterv. Stockholm,
1915/1932
"House,
even
more han the landscape,
s a
psychic
tate" ,
Bachelardug"
gests.23
ndeed,
wr i ters, i [m directors,
oets,
nd
painters
o not
ust
depict and-
scapes r
housesas unavoidable
eographic
nd
physical
et t ings
f the events
of theirstor ies; heyseek o express, vokeand ampt i f iTumanemot ions,mental
statesand
memorieshrough
purposeful
epict ions
f set t ings, oth
naturaI nd
man-made. Let us
assumea
wa[[ :what takes
place
behind
t?" , asks he
poet
Jean
ardieu, 'aut we archi tects
arely other o
imagine hat
happens ehindhe
wal ls
we haveerected.
hewal lsconceived y
archi tects reusual ly
mereaesthet i -
c ized
onstruct ions,nd
we seeour craf t
n
terms
of designing
esthet ic t ructures
rather hanevoking
ercept ions,
eel ings nd
antasies.
Art ists eem o
grasp
he inter twining
f
place
and
humanmind,
memory nd
desire,muchbetter han
we archi tects
o,and hat
s why heseotherar t
orms an
provide
uchst imulat ing
nspirat ion
orourworkas
wel l
as
or archi tectural
duca'
t ion.There reno bet ter essons f the extraordinaryapaci ty f ar t ist ic ondensa-
t ions n evoking
microcosmic
mages f the
wor ld han, say, he
shortstor ies
f
Anton
Chekhov nd
Jorge
uisBorges, r Giorgio
Morandi 's
minutest i [ [ i fes
on-
sist ing
f a fewbott les nd
cupson a table op.
lrl,:i
,rrlSll
:i:i::,rrrrr:.,::,,,,,r1
..:15r.
i:ii |ri:
r"..trlffllrrii:ii
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SPACE,PLACE,
MEMORY AND IMAGINATION
Slownessnd
remembering speedand
orgetting
"Theres a secretbond between lowness nd memory, etween peedand forget-
t ing . .
the
degree f s lowness
s
direct ly
roport ional
o the
intensi ty f memory:
the egree f speed
s
direct ly
roport ional
o the
ntensi ty f forget t ing" ,
uggests
Mi lan undera. '5 i th he dizzying ccelerat ionf the
veloci ty
f t ime today and
the onstant peeding p of our
exper ient ia leal i ty, e areser iouslyhreatened y
a
generaI
ul turaI mnesia.
n
oday's cceterated
i fe,we can ina[ [y nly
perceive,
not emember.n
the society
f the spectacle e can only
marvet , ot remember.
Speed nd t ransparency
eaken emembrance,ut they
have
been
undamental
fascinat ions
f
moderni ty ince he
proclamat ion
f
F.T.Mar inet t i n
the
Futur ist
mani festo
lmost
a fu[ [century go:
The
wortd 's
magni f icenceas
beenenr iched
bya new beauty; he beautyof speed", '6 nd l(ar [Marx'sprophesy: Everything
that
s
sol id
. . mel ts nto he air . " '7Today,venarchi tectureeeks he sensat ion
ofspeed,nstant educt ion nd
grat i f icat ion,
nd urnsaut ist ic, s a
consequence.
Ihearchi tecturaIonfessionf Cooo
Himmelblaul lustrateshis asoirat ionor dra-
mat izedrchi tecturalct ion ndsoeed:
The
estheticsfthe
architecturefdeathnwhite heets.eath
n
iled ospitalooms.
he
architecturefsudden
eath
n he
pavement.
eathrom rib-cage
ierced
ya steeringhaft.
The
ath
fthe ulletthrough
dealer'sead n
4znd
treet.he estheticsfthe
eep-show
sex
nwashable
lastic
oxes.fthe rokenonguesndhedried-upyes.'8
In myview,however, rchi tecture
s inherent ly
slowand
quiet ,
emot ional ly
low-energyrt form
in
comparison
with
the
dramatic
arts
of sudden affective
impact.ts rote s not to create trong
oregroundiguresor feelings, ut to estab-
l ish rames f
percept ion
nd
hor izons
f understanding.
he
ask
of archi tectures
not o makeus weepor laugh, ut o sensi t ize s o
be able
o
entera[ [emot ional
states. rchi tecture
s needed
o
provide
he
ground
and
project ion
creenof
remembrance
ndemot ion.
I
bel ieve
n
an
archi tecturehat s lowsdown and
focuses uman
exper ience
instead f speeding p or di f fusing t . In my view,archi tectureas to safeguard
memories
nd
protect
he authent ic i ty nd
independence
f
human exper ience.
Archi tectures fundamentat tyhe ar t ormof emancipat ion,nd
t makes
us under-
stand nd
remember howe are.
Architecturalmnesia
There
re
di f ferent inds of archi tecture
n relat ion
o
memory:
ne that
cannot
recal l
r touch
upon he
past
and another hat evokes senseof
depthand con-
t inui ty. heres alsoan archi tecturehat seeks o rememberi teral ly,ike he archi-
tectural
orksof Postmodernism,nd another hat
creates senseof deep ime,
andepiccont inui ty i thoutany
direct ormaI eference,s he worksof Alvar
Aal to,
Dimit r is ik ionis
nd
Car loScarpa. hese re
products
f a
"poet ic
chemistry" ,o
use n evocat ive
ot ionof Bachelard. 'every igni f icant nd rue
work
sets
tset f n
' t97
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198
2OO7: JUHANI
PALLASMAA
a respect fuI
ia logue i th he
past ,
both
distantand
mmediate. t the same
ime
that the
work defends
tsel f
as a unique
and complete
microcosm,
t revives nd
revi ta l izes
he
past .
Every
rue
workof ar toccupies
thickand ayered
ime nstead
of
mere ontemporanei ty.
There s
yet
another
imensionn archi tectural
emory.
rchi tecturaImages,
or exper iences,
avea
histor ic i ty nd ontology
f their own.
Archi tectureegins
with
he
establ ishmentf
a hor izontal
lane;
onsequentty,he
loor s he "oldest"
and most
potent
element f archi tecture.
hewa[[ s morearchaic
han he
dooror
the
window,and
projects
deeper
meaning s a consequence.
oderni ty
assuf-
fered
rom
another
ind of amnesia
s archi tectural
lements nd
imageshave
become bstracted
nd detached
rom heiror ig ins nd
ontologicaIssences.
he
f loor ,
or nstance, as
orgot tents or ig inas level led
arth,and urned
nto mere
constructedor izontal lanes.n act ,as Bachelarduggests,uman onstruct ions
of the technological
ge
have orgotten erticality ltogether,
nd urned
nto mere
horizontality. oday's kyscrapers
onsist f stacked
orizontality nd
have ost he
sense
of ver t ical i ty,he
fundamentaI ntologicaI
i f ference etween
belowand
above,Het land
Heaven. lso, he
loor
and
he cei l ing
avebecome
dent icat or i -
zontaIolanes.
hewindowand he
doorareof ten
merehotes n the wal l .
do not
have he space
here o elaborate n th is
themeof the
histor ic i ty f archi tectural
images nd he current
rchi tecturaImnesia
esul t ing
rom he lossof the
histor
ic i tyof exper iences;
merety
oint
at he
mental igni f icance
f his dimension.
The ensesof art
I venture o suggest hat
in its very essence rtistic
work
is
oriented
owards he
past
rather han the
future.Brodsky eems
o support h is
view as he argues:
"There
s something
tear ly tavist ic
n
the
process
f
recol lect ion,f onlybecause
sucha
process
ever s l inear.
Also
he
moreone
remembers,he ctoser
erhaps
one s o dieing." : "
ln
anysigni f icant
xper ience,
emporalayers
nteract ; hat
s
perceived
nter '
actswith
what s remembered,he
noveI hor t -c i rcui ts
i th he archaic.
n ar t ist ic
exper iencelways wakeshe orgot ten hi tdhidden nside ne'sadul tpersona.
Thereare
abr icated
mages n today'sarchi tecture
nd ar t hat are
lat and
withoutan emot ional
cho,but there
are also
novel mages hat
resonate i th
remembrance.he at terare
myster ious nd
fami l iar , bscure nd
clear ,at the
same ime.
Theymoveus through
he remembrances
nd associat ions,
mot ions
and
empathy hat they awaken
n us. Artistic
novelty an
move
us only
provided
t
touches
omethinghat
we
already
ossess
n ourverybeing.
Every
rofound
rt is-
tic
work surely
grows
rom memory, ot
rom rootlessntellectual
nvention.
ft istic
worksaspire
o br ingus back
o an undivided nd
undi f ferent iated
ceanic or ld,
This s
the
Omegahat
Tei lhard e Chardin
r i tes
about,
the
point
romwhich he
wor ldappears omplete nd
correct" .3 '
We are usual ty
ondi t ionedo think that
ar t istsand archi tects
ught o
be
addressinghe
uture eaders, iewers, nd
users f their
products.
oseph
rodsky
is very determined,
ndeed,about he
poet 's
emporal
perspect ive:
When
one
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MEMORY
AND IMAGINATION
Looking hrough a win dow isa
profound
architectural ncounter ather han a visual esignof the window itself
Caspar
avid
Fr iedr ich,Frauam Fenster" , 822
199
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2OO7:JUHANI
PALLASMAA
writes, ne's
most mmediate
udience
s notone's wn ontemporaries,
etalone
posterity,
utone's
predecessors.'32
No
realwriter ver
wantedo be
contempor-
ary", orge uisBorgesrguesn hesame
ain.33
his iewopens nother
ssential
perspective
n the significance
nd
oleof remembrance;
[[creative
ork
s
co[-
laboration
ith the
past
and
with
the
wisdomof
tradition.Every
rue
novelist
listens
or that suprapersonal
isdom
the
wisdom
f the
nove[], hichexplains
why
great
novels realways
litttemore
ntelligenthan heirauthors.
ovelists
whoare
more ntelt igenthan
heirbooks hould
o
nto
another
ineof
work",
Milan
Kunderargues.3a
he ame bservation
s equatlyrue
of architecture;
reat
buitdings
re ruitsof the
wisdom f architecture,
heyare
products
f a
collabora-
tion,
oftenunconscious,
ithour
great redecessors
s
much s hey
areworks f
their
ndividuaIreators.
nlyworks hat
are n
vitaI
and
espectfuI
iatogue ith
theirpastpossesshe mental apacityo surviveimeandstimulateiewers,is-
teners,
eaders,nd
occupants
n
he
uture.
NOTES
1 Karsten arries,
Thoughts n a
Non-ArbitraryArchitecture"
n DavidSeamon
ed.),
Dwelling,
Seeingand
Designing:
Toward
a
Phenomenological
cology,Albany,
NY:State University
f
NewYorkPrcss, 993,
.
47.
2 Karsten
Hanies, Buildingand the
Terror f Time",
Perspecta: he
YaleArchitectural
ournal
79,1982.As
quoted
n DavidHarvey,he Condition
f Postmodernify,
ambridge:
lackwell,
1992,
.206.
3
Gaston
Bachelard, he
Poetics f Space, oston,
MA:Beacon ress,
969,
.
46.
4
As
quoted
n Max
Picard,TheWorldof Silence,
Washington,
C:Begnery ateway,
988,
.
z3r. Kierkegaard
rites: The
present
tate
fthe wortd nd he
whote f i fe
s diseased.fI
werea doctor
and wereasked
or my advice, shouldsay:
Create i lence
ring
men
o
silence."
5
ln MaxPicard,
heWorld f Silence,
.227.
6
ln MaxPicard, he World f Silence,
.2L2.
Z
foseph
Brodsky, A
Place s Goodas
Any" n
On
Grief nd
Reason, ewYork:
Farrar, traus
andGiroux,
997,p.43.
8
Antoine e Saint-Exup6ry,
ind, and ndStars,
ondon: enguin
ooks,99r,
p.
39.
9
RainerMariaRitke,TheNotebooks f MalteLauridsBrigge,M.O.HerterNorton, rans.;New
York nd
London:W.W.Norton Co.,
992,
pp.
30-31.
10 Ritke,
he Notebooks fMalte
Laurids rigge,pp.47-48.
77
loseph
Brodsky,APlaceas
Good sAny"
n
On
Grief ndReason,p.37.
12 SusanSontag,
OnPhotography,
armondworth:enguin
ooks, 986.
tj
Jarkko
aine, Tikusta siaa"
n Parnasso , t982,
pp.323-24.
74 Waltace tevens,
Theory"n TheCollected
oems, ew
York:VintageBooks,
99o,
p.
85.
t5 Nodl
Arnaud,
s
q
uoted n
Bachelard, hePoetics f Space,
.
t37.
t6
Bachelard, hePoetics f Space,
.6.
77 T.S.Et iot , ourQuartets,
anDiego: arcourtBraceJovanovich
ublishers,
y7\pp.58-59.
18 Maurice
Merleau-Ponty,C6zanne's
oubt" n Sense nd
Non'Sense,
vanston,L: North'
westernUniversity ress, 964,p. t9.
79
Joseph
rodsky, n
Grief ndReason,
.
zo6.
20
Bohumil rabat,oo Loud Soli tude.
anDiego, A:
Harcouttnc.,
990,
.
1.
27 MarcetProust,
n Search f LostTime: wann's
Way,C.K.Scott
Moncrieff Terence
ilmartin,
trans.;
ondon: heRandom
ouse, 992,
p.4-5.
-
8/9/2019 A-60 2000 Juhani Pallasmaa 2007 . Space Place Memory and Imagination the Temporal Dimension of Existential Sp…
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SPACE,
IACE, MEMORYAND IMAGINATION
22
Edward . Casey,Memorizing: Phenomenological
fudy,Btoomington,N: Indiana
Univer-
sityPress, ooo,
p.
r48, 72.
23
Bachelard,hePoetics
fSpace,p.7z.
24
As
quoted
n Georges erec, iloja
a
avaruuksia,
sp6ces
'espaces, riginal itle; Helsinki:
Loki-Kir lat ,992,
p.
7
2.
25
Milan undera,lowness,ewYork: arperCotl ins
ubt ishers,
966,
.
39.
26
AsquotedinThomMayne,"Statemenl" inPeterPran,LigangQui:DUTPress,2006,p.4.
27 "All ixed,ast-frozenelat ions, i th heir rainof ancient
nd
venerable
re. iudices
ndopin-
ions,
re wept way, l l
newformed
nesbecome nt iquatedeforeheycanossif i7.l [
hat
issolidmelts ntoair,al l hat s holy s
profaned,
nd
men
at lastare orced o face . . the
realcondit ions
f heir ives nd heir elat ions ith heir el lowmen."
28
CoopHimmelblau,Die Fascinationer
Stadt"
n
AnthonyVidler,TheArchitectural ncanny,
Cambridge,A:TheMITPress, 999,
.76.
29 Gaston
achela"d,
Water nd Dreams: n Essay n the magination f Matter,Dallas, X:The
Pegasusoundation,
y83,
p.46.
30
Joseph
rodsky, essThanOne,NewYork:Farrar
trausGiroux, 986,
p.
3o.
31
As
quoted
n TimoVatjakka
ed.),
uhana
lomstedt:muodon rvo,Helsinki: ainatuskeskus,
1995.
j2
Joseph
rodsky,Letterto orace"n OnGriefand eason,p.43g.
33
As
quoted
n Norman homas i
Giovanni f a/.
(eds),
Borges n Writing,Hopewell:heEcco
Press,994,
p.53.
34
MilanKundera,TheArtoftheVovelNewYork:HarperCol l insPubl ishers lnc. ,2ooo,p.
58.
201