TABULA PLENA
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London, 2016 Anatolios Stathiou Natasha Sandmeier, Manolis Stavrakakis Diploma Unit 9: The Continuum Architectural Association School of Architecture
TABULA PLENA
This book was envisioned as an interactive publication that can become a vessel through which the notion of the archive could be discussed in a critical manner. It’s an one-year exploration around the archive. During the year, I had to question preservation, fight against nostalgia and challenge cultural beliefs. All that of course happened in tandem with trying to define a personal approach to the idea of the idea of the Continuum. Tabula Plena Tabula Rasa in architecture and art is an idea used by modernists and avant-garde artists of erasing the past and creating new forms.It is a latin phrase that translates as ‘blank slate’, and refers to wax tablets that were used in Roman times to write and then later were heated to erase them. The project argues for the Tabula Plena, the ‘full slate’, the idea that the tablet can never be erased and always remain full. Tabula Rasa can erase a figural past but not the cultural background. Understanding that we can never create something from scratch, make us realise that architectural production takes the form of an archival process. Analog archiving is a process of retrieval, butchering, cataloguing, labelling and burying, while digital archiving avoids burial and continues labelling indefinitely. Within every step, there are opportunities for designing.
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THIS IS THE AA ARCHIVE... WELCOME! MY NAME IS ANATOL! LET ME TAKE YOU FOR A WALK AROUND THE ARCHIVE. WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS.
MOST OF YOU, WHEN YOU THINK OF THE ARCHIVE, YOU MIGHT THINK OF A SPACE LIKE THAT
IT'S A SPACE STACKED WITH BOXES AND PORTFOLIOS
THE WORD ARCHIVE CAN MEAN MANY THINGS
IT MIGHT SIGNIFY A COLLECTION OF MATERIAL
IT MIGHT DESCRIBE A BUILDING
The National Archives
AND LATELY, THIS...
OR THIS...
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...IS CALLED AN ARCHIVE AS WELL!
MAN HAS BEEN OBSESSED WITH THE ARCHIVE SINCE ITS CREATION.
JACQUES DERRIDA TRACED ITS ORIGIN TO THE ARKHEION IN ANCIENT GREECE...
THE MEANING OF THE ARCHIVE HAS CHANGED A LOT OVER THE YEARS.
MICHEL FOUCAULT...
JACQUES DERRIDA ATTRIBUTES THAT OBSESSION TO THE FREUDIAN IDEA OF THE DEATH DRIVE.
PHILOSOPHERS HAVE WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY ON THE NOTION OF THE ARCHIVE.
THE DEATH DRIVE IS THE DRIVE TOWARDS DEATH, THAT ALL ORGANIC MATTER EVENTUALLY RETURNS TO AN INORGANIC STATE.
HUMANS, BEING AWARE OF THE DRIVE TRY TO STOP IT, TRYING TO REACH IMMORTALITY.
THE ARCHIVE BECOMES THE ONLY SPACE WHERE IMMORTALITY SEEMS POSSIBLE.
THE PARTHENON IN ATHENS INSPIRED MANY MODERN ARCHITECTS FOR ITS SYMMETRICAL QUALITIES.
WHICH WAS THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OFFICE, BUT ALSO THE HOUSE OF MAGISTRATE.
A PLACE WHERE PUBLIC DOCUMENTS WERE KEPT IN A PRIVATE DOMAIN
IT WAS A PLACE OF AUTHORITY BUT ALSO A PLACE OF SECRECY
AFTER THE ENLIGHTMENT, THAT RELATIONSHIP WAS INVERTED
IT BECAME AN INSTITUTIONALISED MECHANISM TO HOLD PRIVATE DOCUMENTS IN A PUBLIC DOMAIN.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERNET MADE THE ARCHIVE ACCESSIBLE TO MORE PEOPLE.
NOW IT IS REGARDED AS THE CENTRALITY OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
BUT ALSO AS THE PLACE IN HUMANITIES WHERE ONE AFFIRMS THE PAST.
MODERN ARCHIVAL THINKING REGARDS THE ARCHIVE AS THE PLACE THAT HOLDS THE "TRUTH".
IN NATURAL SCIENCES, THE TRUTH IS CONTAINED ONLY WITHIN OBSERVATIONS IN NATURE.
BUT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TRUTH IN HUMANITIES!
FOR THIS, WE NEED TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
LET'S TAKE A BREAK FROM ARCHITECTURE...
HUMANITIES ARE A COLLECTION OF SUBJECTIVE INTERPRETATIONS.
I PROPOSE THAT WE STOP SEEKING THE TRUTH IN THE ARCHIVE AND TRY TO USE IT AS A PROCESS OF PRODUCTION!
LET'S HAVE A LOOK IN NEUROLOGY!
PATIENTS THAT LOSE THE ABILITY TO CREATE NEW LONG-TERM MEMORIES ARE UNABLE TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING PLANNING THE FUTURE.
(
INABILITY TO CREATE NEW LONG-TERM MEMORY IS COMMONLY ATTRIBUTED TO A FAILURE IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS, A PART OF THE BRAIN THAT LOOKS LIKE A SEAHORSE (HIPPOCAMPUS<GREEK FOR SEAHORSE)
TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE REQUIRES THE PAST AS A DEPARTURE POINT.
WE CANNOT PLAN AHEAD WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
WRITER SIRI HUSTVEDT SAID...
THERE IS NO FUTURE WITHOUT A PAST, BECAUSE WHAT IS TO BE, CANNOT BE IMAGINED EXCEPT AS A FORM OF REPETITION.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE NEED TO BE AFFIRMED BY PAST ACTIONS IN A PAST-FUTURE CONTINUOUS CYCLE
IN THAT WAY, THE IDEA OF TABULA RASA, OF COMPLETELY FORGETTING THE PAST, CANNOT EXIST.
IN ARCHITECTURE, TABULA RASA DESCRIBES THE MODERNIST DOCTRINE OF AN INVOKED AMNESIA IN A PLACE.
WHEN MIES VAN DER ROHE WAS COMMISSIONED TO DESIGN THE NEW IIT CAMPUS IN CHICAGO, HE PROPOSED THE BUILDINGS TO SIT ON A CONCRETE SLAB WHICH WOULD COVER THE ENTIRE SITE.
IN THAT WAY, HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO ERASE THE SURROUNDINGS.
HOWEVER, TABULA RASA IS NOT A STATE OF BEING, BUT A PROCESS OF ERASURE, WHICH CAN ERASE A FIGURAL BACKGROUND BUT NOT A CULTURAL ONE.
BY ERASING THE SITE'S CONTEXT, MIES INSERTS HIS OWN .
TABULA RASA IS CULTURALLY AN IMPOSSIBILITY!
IT IS ONLY A SURFACE CONDITION
OUR BRAIN STARTS AS A TABULA RASA BUT IT NEVER RETURNS TO THAT STATE AGAIN IT BECOMES AN ACTIVE ARCHIVE
IT STORES MEMORY, WHICH BECOMES PART OF OUR ACTIVE THOUGHT
OUR SENSE OF SELF IS A COMPOSITE OF OUR MEMORIES
WITHOUT MEMORIES AND THE ARCHIVE WE LOSE THE SENSE OF EXISTENCE
IN THE SAME WAY, THE NOTION OF THE ARCHIVE NEEDS TO WORK LIKE A BRAIN IN THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF ARCHITECTURE
BASED ON THIS UNDERSTANDING, I WILL DEMONSTRATE OPPORTUNITIES TO USE THE ARCHIVAL PROCESS PRODUCTIVELY
EVERY ARCHIVAL PROCESS STARTS IN THE FIELDS...
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...AND IN THE MINES.
LIKE A FARMER, ...
ONE USES HARVESTING MACHINES TO COLLECT THE CROP FROM THE SURFACE OF THE FIELDS.
BUT AS A MINER, ...
ONE CAN DESCEND IN THE CAVERNS WHERE ONE CAN FIND INFORMATION NOT SEEN ON THE SURFACE.
THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS NEEDS A RIGOROUS RESEARCH OF MATERIAL. AN EASY APPROACH WOULD BE THAT OF A FARMER WHO FINDS ITEMS THROUGH A SUPERFICIAL SEARCH.
HOWEVER, IT REQUIRES HARD LABOUR TO EXCAVATE FROM BENEATH THE SURFACE!
IN THE FIELD, ONE CAN FIND VILLA SAVOYE NEXT TO THE PARTHENON.
THAT IS BECAUSE LECORBUSIER ASSOCIATED THE TWO THROUGH HIS WRITINGS.
HOWEVER IN THE MINE, YOU MIGHT FIND TUNNELS CONNECTING IT TO FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S TALIESIN.
PAUL TURNER CLAIMS THAT WRIGHT CONTRIBUTED TO LE CORBUSIER'S NOTION OF THE OPEN PLAN AND THE RIBBON WINDOW.
IN ANOTHER INSTANCE, ANTONIONI IS REGARDED AS A FILM DIRECTOR WITH A GREAT SENSE OF ARCHITECTURAL QUALITIES IN HIS SCENES.
AA ALUMNI CLAIM THAT FOR THE OPENING SCENE IN HIS FILM BLOW UP, HE USED AA STUDENTS AS EXTRAS.
*PAUL VENABLE TURNER, "FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND THE YOUNG LE CORBUSIER", 1983
AFTER RESEARCH IN THE ARCHIVE,...
AND BY CONTACTING A FORMER STUDENT* THAT TOOK PART IN THE FILM,...
*PIERS GOUGH
IT WAS REVEALED THAT ONLY A FEW STUDENTS TOOK PART IN THE FILM WITH NO SUCH REQUEST BEING MADE BY ANTONIONI. ID DA V
OPENING SCENE
H GS MIN OUG HEM IERS G P
ACTUAL SCENE
IN FACT, THEY DID NOT TOOK PART IN THE OPENING SCENE BUT IN ANOTHER ONE!
THAT SHOWS THAT SUCH STORIES CAN EXIST ON THE SURFACE OF THE FIELDS. HOWEVER, BY CHOOSING TO BE A MINER INSTEAD OF A FARMER IS ALREADY A GOOD BEGINNING FOR PRODUCTION. DOING THE HARD WORK OF LOOKING BEYOND THE SURFACE MEANS THAT YOU WILL BRING UP THINGS THAT ARE NOT CONVENTIONALLY DISCUSSED.
AFTER THE EXTRACTION PROCESS, ...
WHATEVER HAS BEEN COLLECTED...
IS MOVED TO THE BUTCHERING FACTORY.
THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN THE ARTEFACTS ARE REMOVED FROM THEIR CONTEXT.
THESE CUTS OF THE ORIGINALS CREATE SMALLER ARTEFACTS THAT HAVE A SUBJECTIVE MEANING TO THE BUTCHER.
IN THIS FACTORY, THEY ARE FRAGMENTED INTO PIECES.
THE FRAGMENTS ARE DISCONNECTED FROM THEIR ORIGIN, AND BECOME BUILDING MATERIAL FOR THE BUTCHER.
KARL LAGERFELD SLICES OFF THE FACADE OF THE TRUTEC BUILDING IN SEOUL.
THE 2D IMAGE OF THE FACADE IS TURNED INTO FABRIC TO MAKE A SUIT FOR THE 2015 CHANEL CRUISE COLLECTION.
HOWEVER, THE ACT OF BUTCHERING CAN BE BOTH INTENDED OR ACCIDENTAL.
SOMETHING CAN BE BUTCHERED FOR AN INTENDED PURPOSE OR BECOME THE BEGINNING OF SPECULATION FOR A NEW DESIGN.
THE NEXT STEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS.
IT'S THE PACKAGING FLOOR!
WHAT HAPPENS HERE IS BOXING, LABELLING, CLASSIFYING AND CATALOGUING. THIS IS THE PART THAT DISTINGUISHES THE ARCHIVE FROM A STORAGE SPACE OR FROM A LIBRARY.
IN A LIBRARY, BOOKS ARE EASY TO CATALOGUE, AS THEY ARE CLASSIFIED BY SUBJECT AND AUTHOR.
HOWEVER, AN ARCHIVE DOES NOT DEAL WITH OBJECTS, LIKE BOOKS, BUT FRAGMENTED PIECES.
THOSE FRAGMENTED PIECES LACK THE ATTRIBUTES THAT BOOKS HAVE. THEY ARE MERE TRACES OF ARTEFACTS AND EVENTS.
THUS, THOSE TRACES NEED TO BE CATALOGUED IN A TREE-LIKE MANNER, BY ASSOCIATING ONE TRACE TO ANOTHER.
THE MOST ARCHITECTURAL SPACE OF AN ARCHIVE IS ITS CATALOGUE!
THIS IS THE CATALOGUE OF THE ARCHIVE, WHICH STARTS FROM THE CENTRE AND BRACHES OFF INTO DIFFERENT ROOMS WHERE THE SUBJECT IS SUBDIVIDED INTO SMALLER ROOMS. THAT IS HOW THE CLASSIFICATION HAPPENS.
EVERY ARCHIVIST CAN USE DIFFERENT METHODS OF ARRANGING THE CONTENT IN THE BOXES.
ANDY WARHOL STORED IN A BOX ONCE EVERY MONTH ITEMS THAT HE FOUND IN HIS STUDIO, CREATING A COLLECTION OF 610 CONTAINERS.
THE METHOD OF CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION DOES NOT FOLLOW STANDARDS, BECAUSE THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY IN DOING IT. THE DIFFERENT METHODS WILL PRODUCE ALTERNATIVE RESULTS WHEN THEY ARE USED. RETRIEVAL IS IMPORTANT IN CREATING. IN THAT SENSE, CURATING A CATALOGUE CAN BE A DESIGN PROJECT BY ITSELF.
IN A CONVENTIONAL ARCHIVE, THESE LABELLED CONTAINERS ARE GROUPED AND BURIED IN A GRAVEYARD-LIKE SPACE.
A GRAVEYARD IS AN UNFIT SPACE FOR AN ARCHIVE.
TOMBSTONES ARE NOT AN IDEAL FORM OF INDEX LABELS.
BURYING CAN BE DANGEROUS AND TURN ITEMS TO INACTIVITY, AS THEY MIGHT GET LOST.
ITEMS THAT ARE DISPLACED TO THE ARCHIVE ARE USUALLY SEEN AS NOT RELEVANT TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. ARCHIVES ARE INDEED REPOSITORIES OF INERT MEANINGS. BUT FOR THEM TO TURN ACTIVE, THE ARCHIVE DOES NOT JUST NEED TO BE ACCESSIBLE, BUT NEEDS TO BE ACCESSED DURING PRODUCTION.
THUS, THE PROCESS OF RETRIEVAL, WHICH IS DONE THROUGH THE CATALOGUE, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT.
THE NEXT STEP IS TO OPEN THE BOX.
BY ACCESSING A BOX, WE FIND THE ITEMS WITHIN, IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT FROM THEIR ORIGINAL, WHICH IS THAT OF THE BOX.
WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE HARDSHIP OF DRAWING A LINE BETWEEN ARCHIVING IN AN ACTIVE AND A PASSIVE MANNER.
NORMAN FOSTER CALLED ARCHIVAL EXPERTS TO HIS OFFICE TO DISCUSS ABOUT THE METHOD HE SHOULD USE TO DRAW AND STORE HIS DRAWINGS IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THEM.
IRONICALLY, HE CONSIDERS THEIR ARCHIVAL, BEFORE HE MAKES THE DRAWINGS.
THIS IS A PASSIVE ARCHIVE, AS THE SKETCHES ARE NOT SEEN AS OBJECTS THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUTURE, BUT WILL DESCRIBE THE PAST IN THE FUTURE.
ANOTHER ASPECT THAT TOO OFTEN TURNS ARCHIVES INTO GRAVEYARDS IS THE SUBJECTIVE CONNECTION OF THE USER TO THE CONTENT.
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THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL MIGHT BE NOSTALGIA, WHICH PREVENTS US FROM BUTCHERING, EXPLOITING AND USING.
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INSTEAD IT MERELY ENCOURAGES HOARDING AND STORAGE. WHAT HAS COME TO REVOLUTIONISE TO CHALLENGE NOSTALGIA BUT ALSO REMOVE THE IDEA OF THE BOX AND THE GRAVEYARD IS THE DIGITAL MEDIUM.
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FIRSTLY, DIGITISATION OF ARCHIVAL MATERIAL REMOVES SENSORIAL ASPECTS THAT ENCOURAGE NOSTALGIA, SUCH AS SMELL OR TOUCH.
THAT IS BECAUSE DIGITISATION TRANSFORMS ALL DATA INTO A BINARY FORM. IT STRIPS HIERARCHY FROM THE OBJECTS.
THE CIRCULAR CATALOGUE-SPACE IS TRANSFORMED...
DATA ON THE DISK IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ONE ANOTHER SPATIALY. IT IS FRAGMENTED EVEN FURTHER.
THE WALLS THAT SEPARATE THE ROOMS DISAPPEAR AND, THE ROOMS BECOME DENTS ON A DISK.
THE USER DOES NOT SEE THAT MECHANISM BUT USES THE FAMILIAR INTERFACE OF FILES AND BOXES.
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HOWEVER, THE BOX LOSES ITS ANALOG MEANING OF CONTEXT.
RETRIEVAL IN THE DIGITAL WORLD IS BASED ON TAGGING.
AS A FORM OF METADATA, TAGGING IS ANALOGICALLY LABELS OF CLASSIFICATION ASSIGNED ON OBJECTS.
COMPARED TO ANALOG LABELS, THE DIGITAL TAGS CAN ALWAYS CHANGE AND CAN BE ASSIGNED BY ANYONE.
THE WAY BY WHICH ITEMS APPEAR ON THE INTERFACE IS NOT BY THE CATALOGUING SYSTEM ASSIGNED BY AN ARCHIVIST, BUT BY TAGS ASSIGNED BY USERS.
IN THE WAY, THE READER OF THE DIGITAL ARCHIVE, OR THE DESIGNER CAN CURATE THE TAGS IN A WAY THAT TAGGING CAN BECOME ANOTHER PROJECT BY ITSELF!
IN THE DRAWING, THE MOMENTS ARE FRAGMENTS, BUILDING MATERIALS IN THE ARCHIVE.
THEY CAN EXIST EITHER IN DIGITAL FORM, LABELLED WITH TAGS, OR THEY CAN BE FOUND IN BOXES.
THE READER OF THE ARCHIVE TRIES TO CREATE HIS OWN INTERPRETATION OF IT, TO CREATE HIS OWN LANDSCAPE.
THE LANDSCAPE IS INVENTED, AND CONSTRUCTED. IT'S THE DESIN PROUCT ITSELF!
IN THE LANDSCAPE, THOSE DISCONNECTED ARTEFACTS CREATE NARRATIVES AND CONNECTION.
SOME NARRATIVES DO NOT FIT TOGETHER. THERE ARE CLIFFS, CANYONS, GAPS AND ERRORS.
FOR A HISTORIAN, THOSE WOULD SEEM AS A WEAKNESS. HOWEVER, WE MUST RECONSIDER THEM AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR REINVENTION! THE REINVENTION IS THE CREATION OF LANDSCAPE!