Memorializing Death, Kesenumma, Japan
Columbia University, GSAPP
During the tsunami in Kesennuma, Japan, 1050 people died and 250 people went missing. According to the Japanese tradition, the deceased’s bodies are to be cremated. The transformation of practices parallels the shifts in values of death, and the afterlife for the families of the victims. Some of the families of the victims were given pieces of unidentified bones to perform the funeral rituals. According to the Japanese culture, these rites are performed to attain Buddhahood and to usher the deceased’s spirit safely to the other world.
The funeral ceremony centers on beautification of the deceased’s life and memories. The deceased is treated as ‘alive’ until the time of cremation. The whole process of the ceremony is symbolically represented as diagrams representing each step of the ritual. And these diagrams are then manifested architecturally. This process begins with the folding of hands, last water given to the deceased and ends with the enshrinement of the deceased’s ashes. Walking through the building, the visitor undergoes a procession marked by a series of experiences and spaces, which mark the ceremony's various stages. Residual, transitional spaces in between allow the visitor to pause, reflect, and proceed to the next stage. The sequence of architectural forms appears like memories where architectural symbols derive meaning. The group of these architectural forms- the mental images of these forms is the architecture of memory.
The site for the design is next to a shrine which was not affected by the tsunami. The design serves as a public park with the interplay of the symbolic diagrams as individual experiences in a spatial sequence. Seen from this park some of the symbolic diagrams of the Japanese death ritual appear as partially submerged with a few architectural fragments as sculptures in a landscape. The main intention was to design spaces that would blend in and provide an atmosphere of sympathy and dignity for the bereaved through a carefully designed spatial sequence. Throughout the building, forms, materials and natural light play a crucial role in conveying appropriate characteristics of each space and in heightening the ritualistic experience of transition through these spaces. Spaces with ceremonial purposes are dignified and dramatized while connecting areas are designed to create a natural flow and a sense of repose between consecutive activities. The light entering these spaces is reflected by materials- Wood, Concrete, Cor-ten steel, Stone and Glass.
An instinctive response is the idea that the cremation ceremony requires a psychological journey in which neither the destination nor the experiences along the way are clear from the beginning. But as they move through the spaces and stages with each of these diagrams, they create mental images and a place of lasting memories.
The funeral ceremony centers on beautification of the deceased’s life and memories. The deceased is treated as ‘alive’ until the time of cremation. The whole process of the ceremony is symbolically represented as diagrams representing each step of the ritual. And these diagrams are then manifested architecturally. This process begins with the folding of hands, last water given to the deceased and ends with the enshrinement of the deceased’s ashes. Walking through the building, the visitor undergoes a procession marked by a series of experiences and spaces, which mark the ceremony's various stages. Residual, transitional spaces in between allow the visitor to pause, reflect, and proceed to the next stage. The sequence of architectural forms appears like memories where architectural symbols derive meaning. The group of these architectural forms- the mental images of these forms is the architecture of memory.
The site for the design is next to a shrine which was not affected by the tsunami. The design serves as a public park with the interplay of the symbolic diagrams as individual experiences in a spatial sequence. Seen from this park some of the symbolic diagrams of the Japanese death ritual appear as partially submerged with a few architectural fragments as sculptures in a landscape. The main intention was to design spaces that would blend in and provide an atmosphere of sympathy and dignity for the bereaved through a carefully designed spatial sequence. Throughout the building, forms, materials and natural light play a crucial role in conveying appropriate characteristics of each space and in heightening the ritualistic experience of transition through these spaces. Spaces with ceremonial purposes are dignified and dramatized while connecting areas are designed to create a natural flow and a sense of repose between consecutive activities. The light entering these spaces is reflected by materials- Wood, Concrete, Cor-ten steel, Stone and Glass.
An instinctive response is the idea that the cremation ceremony requires a psychological journey in which neither the destination nor the experiences along the way are clear from the beginning. But as they move through the spaces and stages with each of these diagrams, they create mental images and a place of lasting memories.
Plastic and Elastic: A non-collective Museum
Columbia University, GSAPP
With permanent exhibitions as a part of the being the urban connector gives the opportunity for the people of Istanbul to go through the museum and engage with art in different ways along the ever changing journey. The temporary exhibitions in the branched out spaces are tied together with a circulation route to go each of the galleries and the neighborhood behind. A library takes the back of the urban wall with being a part of the community with separate entrances to give opportunity to the people to engage with art. It offers visual connections to the museum and will help enagage the people in events that occur city and global wide. Galleries, circulation space, entrance lobby, and public space, café, library, performance space, open air theatre, lecture halls, conference spaces, bookstore.
Exhibition Spaces: Intimate and expansive exhibition spaces with different wall ceiling and floor height conditions. Quality of space change due to different light conditions. Different ways art can be displayed. visual
connection to the outside of the museum. Diagram showing public and private on the top and bottom floor with exhibition spaces in the middle.
Circulation: The ground floor has an open public plaza which acts like the pulling point for the vertical circulation. The design proposal looks at the Public Street and art spaces woven together. With permanent exhibitions being for the Public and the private and temporary for the private. The shredded double spiral allows multiple kinds of exchanges and experiences shared along the journey. It created nodes and points of branching and merging of the public and the private circulation. Points of separation and connection.
Exhibition Spaces: Intimate and expansive exhibition spaces with different wall ceiling and floor height conditions. Quality of space change due to different light conditions. Different ways art can be displayed. visual
connection to the outside of the museum. Diagram showing public and private on the top and bottom floor with exhibition spaces in the middle.
Circulation: The ground floor has an open public plaza which acts like the pulling point for the vertical circulation. The design proposal looks at the Public Street and art spaces woven together. With permanent exhibitions being for the Public and the private and temporary for the private. The shredded double spiral allows multiple kinds of exchanges and experiences shared along the journey. It created nodes and points of branching and merging of the public and the private circulation. Points of separation and connection.