Conceptual Design of the Architectural proposal of the Peace Museum for Cambodia

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSAL FOR A PEACE MUSEUM: Integrating Peacebuilding and Architecture in Cambodia A Research Project Paper Presented to The Academic Faculty

By

Delia María Dávila Illescas

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree in Masters of Arts Major in Applied Conflict Transformation Studies Faculty of Communications and Media Arts

Paññasastra University of Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia September 2011

PAÑÑASASTRA UNIVERSITY OF CAMBODIA

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE ARCHITECTURAL PROPOSAL FOR A PEACE MUSEUM: Integrating Peacebuilding and Architecture in Cambodia

Approved by:

Dr. SIN MENG SRUN, Chair Person

Dr. RAYMOND LEOS, Major Professor

Ms TANIA MILETIC, Technical Adviser

Dr. TROND GILBERG, Member

ABSTRACT This action research project presents the conceptualization process of the concepts and symbols to be used in the Architectural Design of the peace museum for Cambodia. Whilst peacebuilding, within the field of peace and conflict studies, is interdisciplinary, the potential contributions of Architecture have not yet been properly considered. Similarly, a peacebuilding lens on the architectural process is also new.

This architectonic design is based on the vision of Soth Plai Ngarm, a Cambodian peacebuilder, and is a mechanism to prevent future genocide. In order to design the physical space that supports this peacebuilding process, I examined other peacebuilding theories that had parallel characteristics to this framework. Restorative Justice, Reconciliation and Imagine the Future are some of these peacebuilding frameworks, along with consideration of aesthetical experiences that could be integrated into the Architectural design process.

This action research looks into the architectural practice in the search for suitable concepts as icons, symbols, and paths to promote peacebuilding processes. It is informed by a strong sense of awareness of the social, cultural and spiritual implications that arise from a local context.

Observations and informal conversations during 2010 and 2011 with Cambodian friends, local peace practitioners, international peace practitioners working in the region, people from the Diaspora, gave an important layer of cultural learning and understanding in addition to my experience of living in Cambodia during this period. Moreover, the participation of a global community of peacebuilders with a background in peace making, peace keeping, trauma, conflict and conflict transformation gave a wider perspective to the symbols generated in the research process. In addition, the perspective of Architect Galvez, who is outside the Peacebuilding field, gave a special character to the configuration of this architectonic design.

The present action research only addresses the first part or core segment of the design proposal, however, it’s the basis of the proposed final design.

Reflecting on our own practice is a challenging exercise. During this action research project, the dynamic nature of the methodology helped me to manage considerations of the project through a peacebuilding lens, which I wanted to incorporate in the architectural design. This rich methodological process of reflecting, planning and acting allowed creativity to rise and for me to document the challenges faced and the turning points. Important considerations, such as the location and codes of behavior, were shaped by the involved actors. Even small challenges resulted in enormous inputs to the definition of the architectural proposal for the Peace Museum for Cambodia.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This paper was possible because of the encouragement, teaching, guidance, and love of Emma Leslie, she is always my light, and my mentor and friend Soth Plai Ngarm who shared his ideas, reflections, and experience with me. Thank you both for teaching me to see beyond and to experience life with an open heart and humbleness, thank you so much for putting this wonderful project in my hands.

Thanks to the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for hosting me and allowing me to grow under its umbrella. Special thanks to Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, chair of the board of the Centre, who left this physical world during this process, but who always supported me with kindness and wisdom, she will always be an inspiration.

Thanks to the Director of the Centre, Emma Leslie and the Deputy Director Baht Latumbo and to the Admon team: Oum Sotheavy, Chhit Maria, Mark Satvansay and Chea Sophiep and to the interns of 2010 and 2011.

Many thanks to the faculty of the Masters Applied Conflict Transformation Studies ACTS, Monica Alfred, Chona Echavez, Kathryn Poethig, especially to Tania Miletic and Soth Plai Ngarm for embracing my ideas and their guidance and revisions.

Many thanks to the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at the Eastern Mennonite University, to Sue Williams, Bill Goldberg, Valerie Helbert and Kaylee Curtis for their support for conducting part of my study at their facilities and to the Winston Fellow. To my professors, Paulette Moore, Babu Ayindo, Hizquias Assefa and Howard Zehr who inspired many reflections and influenced the actions of this research.

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Thanks to my friend and colleague Arch. Alex Gálvez, who participated in the architectural aspects of this project. To Sophie Nicholls, Caitlin Powell and Rhiannon Owen for helping me “flow”, to my fellows peacebuilders, colleague artists, batch, friends, and people involved in this study.

I very much appreciate the ones who imagined the program of ACTS as a bridge between practice and theory and to the ones how made it possible. To Diego, Ana, Marysol and Luis, this is because of you and for you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. iv APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ....................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................................... 19 CHAPTER V RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................... 43 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATIONS .................................................................... 54 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 57 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................... 59

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TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1 Important elements might be achieved through peace museum .................................. 6 Figure 2 Adaptation of Olga Botcharova's model by Eastern Mennonite University, Center for Justice an Peacebuilding 2002.................................................................................................... 8 Figure 3 Conceptual map of the PM during cycle 1 ................................................................ 19 Figure 4 Sign in the Toul Sleng Museum in Khmer writing it reads: "please keep quiet" ...... 22 Figure 5 The orange sking. From the series of oranges pelead as part of the study of shape for the PM ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Figure 6 David Brubaker, PhD Practicum Director, Associate Professor of Organizational Studies Expertise: Healthy organizations, leadership, group conflict, and change processes; consulting within non-profit organizations, workplace mediation, education ......................... 32 Figure 7 Creative process during FGD .................................................................................... 33 Figure 8 Art data created during FGD in EMU ....................................................................... 33 Figure 9 Barry Hart, PhD Academic Director, Professor of Trauma, Identity & Conflict Studies Expertise: Conflict transformation, prejudice reduction, trauma awareness and recovery, reconciliation in Northen Ireland and Africa ........................................................... 34 Figure 10 Data from the survey in EMU, to the question should we show the past in a Peace Museum? .................................................................................................................................. 35 Figure 11 From the survey in EMU art data regarding the question: What shape the PM for Cambodia should have? ........................................................................................................... 35 Figure 12 Art Data from the survay in EMU ........................................................................... 36 Figure 13 Art Data one of the symbols for reconciliation. Rituals for peace ......................... 36 Figure 14 Symbols, shapes, activities for the PM with a worldwide perspective .................... 37 Figure 15 THE list, information from the survey performed on EMU ................................... 39 Figure 16 Conceptual map of the process of the PM during the cycle 4 ................................. 42 iv

Figure 17 Interaction levels of the peace museum as a physical space.................................... 44 Figure 18 Function/Shape. Spiral and orange. Diagrams of cycle 3 ...................................... 50 Figure 19Area of the museum were the user can choose between going around the causes of the conflict and the conflict itself or go to the area of peacebuilding efforts of rebuilding Cambodia ................................................................................................................................. 51 Figure 20 The concept of repetition. Used during cycle 4 ...................................................... 52 Figure 21 Graphic of the vertical scale and use of ramps ........................................................ 53

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APPENDICES Appendix 1 Conceptual draft of the PM incorporationg the symbols of the research. ............ 59 Appendix 2 Sketch of the frontal view..................................................................................... 59 Appendix 3 Sketch of the back view ........................................................................................ 59

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. Context Cambodia has experienced many events that have shaped the current situation of the country. A complex history of power dynamics; Monarchy, French protectorate, US intervention, the radical Maoist and Marxist-Leninism of the Khmer Rouge, Vietnamese liberation/occupation, civil war, peace agreements and now the post conflict period have all affected the current situation. Many initiatives have been made in the post conflict period to document and commemorate the past conflicts; these include the Genocide Museum, the Killing fields, Stupas and even Trials. Nevertheless little has been done to use these sites to promote healing and the reconstruction of social relationships by integrating their content to promote a vision for the future.

Soth Plai Ngarm, a Khmer Rouge survivor, an ex-civil war combatant and a peace practitioner has been engaged in a range of peacebuilding efforts for Cambodia. One of his initiatives has been to develop a framework of a Peace Museum for Cambodia, envisioning a mechanism to prevent future genocide. Soth (2007) refers to a concept of a place for education and memorial of past conflicts and peace processes. A space for those who have not come to terms with the past, to help their memories, a place for meeting, storytelling, remembering, understanding, explanations, forgiveness and letting go. In addition, it would seek to explain to the rest of the world why such violence happened and it would look to prevent this act in other parts of the world. Its main goal is to transform the attitudes and feelings Cambodians have towards themselves. This framework is the starting point of this architectural design project in Cambodia, and this action research project.

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2. Work Context I am an Architect from Guatemala, Central America. My country experienced protracted conflict for more than 30 years until the sign of the Peace Agreement in 1996. This conflict led to more than two hundred and fifty thousand deaths, forty five thousand disappearances, a million refugees and two million people displaced. I am strongly influenced by my country’s history of conflict. However, I am much more influenced by the post conflict situation.

I combined my architectural career with initiatives in peacebuilding in Guatemala. As a result, an association of peace practitioners in a holistic effort for peace was born: the Center for Peace and Action for Conflict Transformation (PAZci) in Guatemala. During some of the Center’s activities, I started to observe some of the principles of conflict transformation tools that I could apply to my architecture.

Through the trainings of PAZci, I observed the impact and limits that space has on this type of work with a vision towards peace. Consequently in 2008, I designed the building of the Centre for Peace and Action for Conflict Transformation, honoring a peacebuilder who influenced the global peacebuilding field, PhD Steve Williams. This center consists of a series of buildings designed with a close perspective toward peace. It includes a training area, a documentary center, exterior areas for training, and a Museum - the memorial of Guatemala’s conflict. This final area was influence by the framework of a Cambodian peacebuilder titled: “A Peace Museum for Cambodia, a vision to prevent future genocide” (Soth Plai, 2007). The same framework is the core of this architectural project and action research.

My design addressing Guatemala’s conflict was seen by Soth Plai Ngarm and Emma Leslie from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) in Cambodia and they invited me to come and design the offices and training facilities for the CPCS Centre; and through partnership strengthen peacebuilding efforts between regions.

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Members of both organizations, CPCS and PAZci, are part of Action Global: a global network of practitioners, living, and working in conflict situations, which are committed to positive action to transform conflicts. ("ACTION", 2011) Through this partnership, I moved to Cambodia in 2010 to work on these projects.

This exciting project was also incredibly complicated as it was in the context of a very different culture to my own. Nevertheless, it was an opportunity to look for parallels between cultures, fields and experiences. Part of my previous experience as an architect made me note that a cultural value approach to a design can make a big difference to the experience, perception and learning of the users. ‘Users’ is the term used by architects to describe the people who experience our architecture.

A leading peacebuilder, Lisa Schirch, argues that the physical context can help shape how people think and feel about themselves, others, and conflict. Literature in the peacebuilding field acknowledges the concept that space and symbols help to define interactions and how they happen, but it does not acknowledge the power of designing the peacebuilding set for the “drama” like in a theather playo f transformation and construction. (Schirch, 2005, p. 68) I agree with this observation and I found the same limitation, along with a lack of literature on the specific use of architectural symbols in Cambodia to promote healing and prevent genocide.

This created the opportunity to think about trauma healing, restorative justice, symbols and creativity and even the physiological as well as psychological processes during and after such trauma. Whilst there is little written about integrated approaches of architecture and peacebuilding, these ideas have great potential to develop, including into the consideration of architectural design through a peacebuilding lens. This action research project explored the architectural design process for the peace museum through a peacebuilding lens specific to a

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Cambodian post-war context. It will be limited to the cultural aspects and to the conceptual level; other technical aspects of the design will be addressed separately from this paper.

3. Research Problem What formal concepts should the Peace Museum have to support a peacebuilding process in a post conflict Cambodia? What shapes and symbols will be culturally and socially appropriate to learn from the past, reflect on the present and envision the future? What variables in the design of the physical space could persuade reflection, learning and discussion by the local and international user to prevent war and future genocide, and to inspire to build a peaceful future?

4. Research goal The goal is to identify the appropriate shapes, symbols, paths and concepts to design the physical space of the framework of the Peace Museum for Cambodia.

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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In the general understanding, Peace Museums are institutions that are interested in peace education and art. (Duffy, 1993, p. 4). They have been used since World War I and they have been evolving.

UNESCO envisions museums as centers for conservation, study and reflection on heritage and culture (unesco.org, 2007). Is key to understand that elements of the museum can no longer stand aloof from the major issues of our time. (unesco.org, 2007). However, is also important to understand that we can not only live in the past, we should also use this mechanism aas ways to think in the future.

Duffy (1993) classifies peace museums (PM) in four ways; (1) peace museums, (2) thematic museums, (3) museums oriented to humanitarian relief, (4) and galleries. Currently in Cambodia, we can find Duffy’s second classification in the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields, just to mention a few examples. There are also some galleries that collect items from the past. However, there is not a designed physical space that can support a process of reconciliation. Experiencing some of current museums and galleries has being persived as a painful experience, rather than a experience of learning and transformation.

Johan Galtung, a prominent peace scholar and practitioner, views most existing peace museums as anti-war museums. His concepts for a peace museum are based on their need to be more appropriate to build positive peace; he believes a peace museum should: …inform us about peace, how to handle contradictions nonviolently and creatively; not only having little or no violence or it could exhibit violence, war and peace in terms of “bellogens” producing war and derive one road to peace and even conflict transformation. It should also contribute to world peace through education, as a museum in principle is total education impinging on all faculties: eyes (reading viewing), ears (listening) and the vocal chords (speaking), motion (walking), touching (when permitted), smelling (religion uses incense), tasting (drinks and food in the cafeteria should be adjusted to the exhibits); a good museum would suggest a walking track but should facilitate designing alternative trajectories to avoid feeling processed 5

by some museum designer with messages to be walked in the “correct” order; it should exhibit human, social and world normality with little or no violence….normal life is very often harmonious, not quarrelsome, non violent, friendly and loving; it should be made very clear that everybody can contribute to peace. Peace should be seen as people creation, not as elite domination, and creation would cover both material and spiritual production; it should show peace as process with peaceful conflict transformation. (Galtung, 2008, pp. 154-155) Galtung is the first scholar to make this statement from a physical perspective and this leads to a deep reflection of what a peace museum should physically facilitate for the user.

From the social perspective, Soth Plai Ngarm’s (2010) framework is the leading framework for this design, as it looks into the peace museum theory as a social mechanism. He describes three dimensions that the museum might address: (1) the political, (2) the social, (3) the emotional and spiritual. There are in addition to and interrelated to elements of truth, justice, memory and history, reparation, healing, prevention, forgiveness, and forgetting as a social process. (See figure 1)

Figure 1 Important elements might be achieved through peace museum Based in Soth Plai (2010) Peace Museum Framework

This interesting perspective has influenced my practice for some time because it encompasses the combination of historical and more progressive understandings of the different role that museums can play beyond the conventional one. Moreover, the key is that the vision comes from a Cambodian peacebuilder that knows the psyche of the Cambodian culture, the values, the context, the history, and the mechanism that this museum could be 6

from a peacebuilding perspective. Moreover, it leads to what Cambodians will like to say to an international audience about their country.

However, this mechanism is not a short-term process, as there are difficulties, particularly as even defining what reconciliation is remains complex.

Dr Hizquias Assefa, mediator and facilitator of reconciliation processes in a number of civil wars in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, sees reconciliation as a journey that encompasses the heart and the mind and is more than an intellectual exercise; it is like a discipline that implies will and internal change. (Assefa, 2011) Core elements for this process to happen are: The honest acknowledgment of the harm/injury of the parties involved. Sincere regrets from the parties and remorse for the injury done. Readiness to apologize for one’s role in inflicting the injury, and to “let go” of the anger and bitterness caused the conflict and compensate the damage caused to the extent possible, entering into a new mutually and entering into a new mutually enriching relationship. (Assefa, p. 1) However, these elements need to be nurtured. A visual way to see a transition of trauma towards reconciliation is a “snail diagram” (See Figure 2), representing the diagram of the trauma-healing journey.

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Figure 2 Adaptation of Olga Botcharova's model by Eastern Mennonite University, Center for Justice an Peacebuilding 2002.

The diagram implies a path to the healing of the individual and the collective, whereas in the circular section marked in light orange, the trauma keeps a close path that is repeated.

Violence creates trauma and unsolved trauma creates more violence. Pain that is not transformed is transferred (Rohr quoted inYoder, 2005). In this diagram breaking the cycle implies a series of steps: mourning and grieving, accepting the reality of the loss, memorializing, committing to take risk, tolerance coexistence, engaging the offender (or society), choosing to forgive, establishing “creative� justice, negotiate solutions, and integrating trauma experience until the process could lead them to the possibility of reconciliation. Restorative Justice, a framework that addresses the obligations that results 8

from the harms and seek to put right the wrongs, can also play a part in this journey. Howard Zehr (2002) , called the grandfather of restorative justice, points out that this approach addresses the needs of the three actors involved: the victims, the perpetrators, and the community. Facilitating a setting for this to happen could be a task for a Peace Museum.

External and internal story telling spaces enable victims to get the “real” information and encourage healing and transcending. Symbols of encouragement for action and transformation could integrate the three parties involved into a healing process, and lead the experience of the museum more into a learning and transformative journey and perhaps a ritual. Carolyn Yoder (2005) mentions that: Transformation can progressively lead to prevention of violence by transforming the collective trauma that experiences like holocaust, colonialism, dictatorship or genocide create. When this kind of experiences happened, the younger generations learn the same patterns as the older ones, it’s like culture, it’s something that you learn from your society and you learn to keep this way of lineal way of thinking. Unaddressed traumas affect not only those directly traumatized but also their families and future generations. (Yoder, p.

13) Dr Seanglim Bit (1991), a Cambodian-born, social psychology scholar, who served in the Ministry of Finance before 1975, fled from the Khmer Rouge and was one of the first overseas to come back to consult on trauma recovery issues. In The Warrior heritage, a psychological perspective of Cambodian trauma, he argues that Cambodian contemporary complexity psychology is not only caused by the events from the year zero, as the Khmer Rouge time is know, but returns to the Angkorian times. (Bit, 1991) The heritage of the Braham’s religious system, Hinduism, the mixture with animism and the subsequent Buddhism that today the majority of population still embrace are factors that determine today’s Cambodian behavior. Other sets of factors are power dynamics and the established social rules.

Moreover,, recent studies have discovered that factors of social behavior due to social trauma exist as physical reactions to a traumatic experience. Dissociation is one such

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reaction; this phenomenon helps to protect and buffer the central nervous system from physiological and emotional hyper[active] arousal. (Fischer, 2011, p. 3) Dissociation mechanisms help to cope with the moment and make the trauma bearable. Physically, in the area of the brain that holds the sensory-physical memories, it’s responsible for responding to danger rapidly and processing environmental challenges, stress, and pain. It also manages self-protection responses such as avoidance and escape (Schutz 2005, cited in Fischer, 2011, p.5) but it also holds creativity. Physically, the survival mechanism in the brain shuts down the verbal processing area while the visual, and sensory-emotional areas of the brain remain quite active (Rauch et al, 1996, as quoted in Fischer, 2011, p.6) the ability to fleeis active, while the verbal memory is diminished. This explanation of the psychological segregation can help us have a closer understanding of what happens to traumatized societies. I believe that this reaction has been triggered many times in Cambodians by the political instability since the time of King Sihanouk and his aim of consolidating the god-king system after independence from France. The Khmer Republic years and the leadership concept still rooted from the past would have also triggered it. The Khmer Rouge period and its reeducation policy, attempts to crack previous regimes and to establish a system of self-criticism of personal failures, which were often the basis for administering punishment and destroyed the ability of decision making, would have also created dissociation. In addition, the after events, such as occupation and refugee camps, amongst other stressors, and the convulsionary international dynamics in the last 60 years, have all had accumulative impacts on the physical and psychological disposition of peoples and societies.

Soth Plai (2007) mentions that “many of us, who suffered during that period, [the Khmer Rouge], have found it easier to move forward in our lives by not mentioning the past. It is too painful to remember, and at times to recall the past has meant we revealed our own particular political preferences and, therefore, it was not safe to discuss.� From the human lineal way of

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thinking, memories, feelings and thoughts associated with dissociated fragments do not disappear from the mind, they simply disappear from consciousness. When this happens, the left and right sides of the cortex of the brain are no longer connected 1. Within the broad and multidisciplinary field of trauma studies, scholars are pointing to the ability of arts and rituals as a way of bridging these two hemispheres of the brain with the process of creation.

Collective poetry, mural painting, quilting, storytelling, drum groups, improvisation, theater, performance, dance, etc., can be crafted in a way to help this process.

It is very difficult to explain how transformative an aesthetical or a ritualistic experience can be, but physically the interaction between the different parts of the brain offers an alternative interaction and a reconciliation within, because it transform the lineal way of thinking while you are experimenting with your senses. It engages us both at the sensory and cognitive levels. Thus, this might be a vehicle for the journey that Assefa (2011) mentions, in a reconciliation framework that looks for multiple ways from trauma to healing and reconciliation The arts can be craft according to the context, and the artist can work with the tension between innovation and tradition, building shapes but not overwhelming the perceptual capacities of their audience (Cohen, 2011). Architecture is included in the category of the Fine Arts and is a cultural and political statement.

Architecture was born from the biological need for shelter, and has evolved into a musical language where each of its elements plays a dominant part in the masterpiece or ‘whole’. Architecture is in this sense an aesthetical discipline, it can be crafted in a manner that could be culture embrasive. Like negotiation and mediation, processes need their settings 1

“The left hemisphere controls the functions on the right side of the body. It is also very analytical, and processes in a very logical way, seeing things in sequence. In addition, it is responsible for verbal speech and language, as well as, math and science. The left hemisphere is very linear oriented and houses verbal memories.

In contrast, the right hemisphere of the brain sees the bigger picture, it process non-verbal language, such as body language and intonation. (Fischer, 2011, p. 4) The right hemisphere is very visually perceptive, and “specializes in regulating stress and emotion-related processes” (Sullivan & Dufresne, as quoted in Fischer, 2011).

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to be conducted in a particular way; the way the table is placed in a context where a table is accepted or the sitting of elders, or men and women, is all part of a ritualistic setting that can lead to reconciliation.

From an Architectural perspective, feelings, emotions, and perceptions can be persuasive and are keys to the overall experience. Imagine yourself at your favorite place: the lighting, the wideness or narrowness of it‌ how do you feel? Now picture a place that you dislike, how does it look? Does it have windows? How big are the doors? Are the colors bright?

There are many aspects of architectural design: technical, cultural, and conceptual.

Architectural space is shaped. With this statement I have to say that for some architects space exists as a universal premise, and what we do is define it by physical boundaries. Vertical boundaries could be walls, windows, doors, arches or even light settings or water. Horizontal boundaries could be ceilings and floors. Linkages between both axes are stairs, ramps, and elevators. Moreover, linkages between the same axes could be gardens, halls and lobbies.

The way that these elements are crafted is an art, and the way symbolism is assigned to the design adds to the experience. Persuasion, as a form of suggestion through design, is its language. I think of Architecture in the same terms as Adam Curle thinks of the importance of relationships for sustaining peace, the ones in which the various parties did each other more good than harm (Curle, 1995). I see that architecture has a potential to harm different systems, both ecological and social, and I believe that is important to design in such a way as to minimize the harm that structures have. In this way, there is more to architecture than walls and structure; the interaction between the people, design, environment and culture that promote peace in some way are important.

Lately I have being exposing these ideas to peacebuilders as “Peace Architecture� (PA), a term coined by Emma Leslie. However, assigning a definition to this practice is still in the preliminary stages. Even so, some guidelines ideas about PA could include being attentive of

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the needs and relations of the users. Due to its aesthetical component, PA can produce in the user a duality of tension and innovation integrating a deep relationship with traditional practices. In addition, its randomness can stimulate a critical thinking without overwhelming the perceptual capacities of the user. Efficiency should be a component, including environmental concerns technique, comfort, functionally, suitability, as it can promote relationships towards building Peace. I believe that this kind of Architecture can be influential in different social levels, and with different timings.

This previous guidelines merged with the concepts of the Peace Museum as an umbrella where education, creation, tolerance and unification can be supported, and being conscience of the impact that this architectural element will have in nature and in communities it assigns its true value.

To the particular project of designing a peace museum for Cambodia, the physique of the long-term users, the direct community will experience different impacts than tourism and the short period users, the visitors, how will they think about the presented experiences of Cambodia? How they will learn about the country? How this country can continue its journey towards peace?

From a peacebuilding lens, to talk about power dynamics is important to set up a time line, open enough to show a bigger picture of the conflict, not just one period but the longer past towards the future. Elise Boulding and important scholar, introduces the framework of ‘imagine’, where actions are influenced by 100 years previous, and in consequence, it will influence in the next 100 years. (Boulding, as quoted in Ramsbotham & Et-al, p. 53) Because of the trauma of societies that have suffered dictatorship, war, genocide the capacity of imagining was affect. In addition to the destruction of the leaders and the dreamers and of a society systematically eliminated. Post conflict societies have a hard time imagining the new direction of society, new systems, and new dynamics. Boulding also advises to take

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some time doing some imagining of what kind of world we are working for into imagining and optimal future (2005, p. 18). Knowing what you are working for affects your choices and actions. If you are reaching a difficult decision point in your own life, then think about that image of what you are working for and which way to go in relation to that. This would not necessarily answer it, but it would help (2005, p. 18). That is, in my perspective, another role that the museum should play, stimulate creative process by engaging the user and invite them to imaging a different world.

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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Research design This Action Research was conduct to collect and process information to guide the Architectural design of the Peace Museum for Cambodia with a peacebuilding perspective.

Part of the important elements is my relationship with it. Being a Latin American Architect, and an outsider of the context of the museum, include an opportunity of being not only the plan it but also to learn from it in the process of creation, and by this action how the learning can be. In relation to the design through a peacebuilding lens, the research was conduct to determine the architectural symbolism to be used on telling the chapters of history that lead to the Khmer Rouge, until now; and how the museum can be designed to serve its vision as a mechanism for peacebuilding.

2. Research questions The guiding lines of the research looked to understand what a Peace Museum from an Architectonical perspective. More in deep what are the cultural and social elements that define the conceptual design of the peace museum for Cambodia, to support a peacebuilding framework develop as one of the mechanism to prevent future genocide, with a worldwide perspective to embrace a global culture for peace.

3. Cycles Four cycles were performed during this research.

1.1 Cycle 1: Dissection

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Is a stage of understanding the project. It included the participation of Soth Plai Ngarm, my client and creator of the PM mechanism framework for Cambodia. It also include my reflections on the cultural learning I have gain during my life in Cambodia (2010-2011) This providing the guidelines to the process of the research. This is the local layer of the project.

Participants: Soth Plai Ngarm and Me Data collection methodology: In deep interview 1.2 Cycle 2: Looking for linkages During this cycle, I revised into relevant literature to link Architecture and Peacebuilding.

In addition, I performed an FGD in the Summer Peacebuilding that included participants from all continents with different areas of expertise related to peacebuilding. In a format of art data, to collect in the empowering exercise of creation ideas of what a PM should be for Cambodia. This add and international layer to the project, in the aim of creating a space able to include worldwide perspectives.

Participants: 83 participants of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) in Virginia, United States in an FGD. Professors: Paulette Moore, Hizquias Assefa, Howard Zehr and Babu Ayindo and classmates during SPI Data collection methodology: One methodology was an FGD collecting data in an art base process. In addition to reflections and notes collected during the classes.

1.3 Cycle 3: Summarizing, processing and creating In this cycle, I processed the reflections, leanings and considerations of cycles 1 and 2 to create the general concepts of the design. In this stage, I create the general graphics of the concepts of the museum.

Participants: Me and indirectly, the process keeps being influenced by conversations, other projects in CPCS, people from the Diasporas, scholars, practitioners, etc. during July, August and September 2011.

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Data Collection methodology: Conceptual list by frequency of concepts of the art data, plans of the ground and first floor, sections, elevations and perspectives of the project.

1.4 Cycle 4: Revising and Integration In this cycle, I showed to my client, Soth Plai Ngarm the final concepts designed during cycle 3. In addition, I realized a consultation with the Arch. Alex Galvez to conclude architectonically the approach.

Participants: Soth Plai Ngarm, Arch. Alex Galvez and me Data Collection methodology: In deep interview 4. Data Analysis The main approach to data analysis was using qualitative approach of thematic analysis.

The categories are the cultural and social, the ones related to peacebuilding frameworks and finally the category of symbols and icons.

2. Action and Reflection The reflection and analysis on the first cycle were a diagnosis and the way to make sense of the project. This information led me to divide the project in different aspects according on the aspects I wanted to aboard. X numbers of categories were recognized to influence the decision process of the creation of the museum. (1) related to the history and cultural events of the time line for Cambodia. (2) Religious element of society, even the client did not want to be specifically to a religion, and the context has a cultural element based on religion. (3) the political context, the power dynamics of the past and the opportunities of Cambodia today.

(4) environmental issues and sustainability (5) the sensibilities of being me, an outsider of Cambodia addressing this issues, (6) the relation that architecture could have with post conflict peacebuilding in Cambodia.

The second cycle data looked at the process form the peacebuilding perspective and started to draw a linkage between architecture. Theories of trauma healing, psychology and 17

reconciliation started to merge with aesthetical process, creativity and imagination. The FGD conducted gave data about the approach of peacebuilders to the field of architecture and their reflections on this field. This drawings, sculptures, and art pieces became a direct influence on the conception of the Museum’s shape, path, and considerations on the space.

The third cycle integrated the cultural and social concepts and the theoretical background and created symbols, concepts, qualities, and suggested spaces into the proposal. The forth cycle of this design was presented to my client, and in a in deep interview with my client highlighted the concepts that had an acceptance on the proposal and the use of architectural language to communicate his vision with the richness of the knowledge gained during the research. Still are elements to be included in the design but the conceptualization finishes on this stage, with the participation of a fellow architect to reflect on the shapes, areas, and paths.

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CHAPTER IV DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH This action research project was born with the need to process the peacebuilding components of the Peace Museum design. One of the reasons for me to get involved in this project was my background, and the search for intervention in post conflict from my field, Architecture.

This action research looks into Architecture within a peacebuilding lens with the aim of achieving the most suitable design of the Peace Museum for Cambodia.

1. Cycle 1

Figure 3 Conceptual map of the PM during cycle 1

The first part of the cycle started to reflect on the learning’s of the past year, when I moved to Cambodia. In this part of the process I was looking for the way of articulating the process, this architectural element seems to be complex to me, so identifying the complexities was the first part of the process.

To the general considerations of any project the fact of me, coming from a different context made me consider more questions. One of my biggest worries was misinterpretation.

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I have seen this when researches have being conducted in my context and how stereotyping they can be and I do not want to contribute to that with this project paper.

In ancient times, the dilemma of scholars was to look to define this discipline, and its malleability it could not be frame just in one of the categories of understandings. Is a fact that architecture has that component of being a technique and within that category; it has considerations of structure, technology, comfort, materials, and function. However, it is also an art and in that aspect it conceders shapes, paths, light and attributes of the piece to express.

Recognizing these previous elements shows many leanings from the past. Moreover, how previous generations have found solutions to this. It also shows the accepted social symbols because they are found consistently in several architectural examples.

One of the first steps towards the design was look for the “time marks� of Cambodian architecture. Angkor, the World Human Heritage Place, one of the four biggest religious cites of the world, is here, and its influence is all around. Old French buildings from the colonial time, temples in different districts, post modern architecture from the earliest 70’s with a strong characteristic on the functionalism and today the modern constructions, with the use of air conditioner that allowed the use of glass facades. Different typology of houses, the vernacular ones with its comfort and practical components, its heritage on the use of natural ventilation, elevation of the plant looking for a cooling system and prevention of flooding, the position on the house and the way of placing to prevent the direct sun radiation as the modern techniques used for the same propose.

These architectural marks made me also to understand the historical implications of every stage. Cambodian history books and most texts were from a non-Cambodian perspectives, and this tendency of having only one side story, written in a win/lose style, made me reflect very much of how I was going to create a path in this building. In addition, I started to ask myself about the stories of resilience, the survivors, where are the stories from Khmer voices?

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I need it to find a connection between the facts of the story, the pain of it but if I stayed at that stage, it will become again a war museum, with “peace” written in the entrance. That showed me how challenging is to get the history, and that will be part of the museums role, to tell the story. I recall one of the first readings I did: “Even my own children know only sections of my own story”. (Soth Plai, 2000)And I thought that’s exactly what I know or the history of my parents, and it took time for us, bring them up, but still is blurry, and I thought, If only Ngarm’s kids could knew more of the story of their father and with that more of his dreams.

Perhaps families need to reconstruct their story after war to stop the polarity of one side story.

Knowing my parent’s dreams and struggle had made me truly committed to my work and to the joy of life for what they fought. Many other sources of learning are around, not only books and statistics but also love and adventure stories and even from a road trip story of the princess and her magic hair, and the mountain that is a crocodile, one that Ngarm told me. Of the spicy food at the north of Cambodia because of its closeness to Thailand, of going “da leing 2” that changed my mental structure, and now I enjoy going, the journey and not I don’t only focus on the destination. A wonderful analogy of life, you go and you make of that ride the important part. I learned during lunches that I shared like the family integrations in the time of the Khmer Rouge and why these families are still together. The behavior at funerals and weddings, the ways of the monks, the use of colors, the socialization of this society treating at each other’s like family adding to the names words like “big brother”, “uncle”, etc, and this kind of learning could never be learned in a book but it determine many elements of the way of addressing the project. All this particularities, the anthropomorphic elements, that generates a close identity and ownership for a community and the building, and specially this brings it to life.

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This is the phonetically way of writing it, and translated from Khmer to English is “walk play”.

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On this process of making sense and founding the reasons of this museum to be different to the already existing one I reflected on a series of visits to Toul Sleng, the Genocide Museum, from the first visit that was emotionally shocking, I started to look for certain characteristics. I observed people’s reactions, the order of its walk along the museum, find out what part attract the public more and why. I realize how low rate of local tourism the museum had, I inquired about signs along the museum, especially one with a smiling face with a crossed sign (see Figure 3).

Figure 4 Sign in the Toul Sleng Museum in Khmer writing it reads: "please keep quiet"

Only the experience of living here made me understand that smiling is a way to cope with pain in the Cambodian context, this prohibition on this museum follows the same patterns of suppression. Moreover, it does not help much with traumatized societies. This sign was posted to make the museum more open to foreign tourism, but to be honest, it’s just another rule of the prison, only that it is not placed at the central yard. I also observed a man, elder Khmer taking groups of young Khmer and talking to them.

One of these visits I was guide by Emma Leslie, an Australian peacebuilder that have being living in Cambodia for more than a decade, and her analysis of the power dynamics that lead to the Khmer Rouge opened my eyes, and think: “That’s it! We have to see the 22

bigger picture!” (Dávila Illescas, 2010) She made me reflect on the role of victim/perpetrator and the use of propaganda to this society that was so much suppress for years that at the beginning of the Khmer Rouge. The same as the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles California explain in the first part of installation, Hitler’s propaganda. In that visit we meet the men that I saw several times, Emma speaks Khmer, Cambodia’s language and we could talk to him; his name is Chum Mey, hi is a survivor of that prison the former S-21, he talked to us, and he said: “Tell my story, so it will not happened again”. (Dávila Illescas, 2010) A document that I revise again was the MA Dissertation: A Theoretical framework for Peace Building in Cambodia (Soth Plai, 2000) this paper set up the time line for me, and for the design. Ngarm writes since the Hindu time to the time to the beginning of this century, and his perspective and experience in his context found the historical aspect of the project. In Ngarm’s papers I have found that he recognizes moments in the history that I see as opportunities, and I think this in general are difficult to see but if we don’t found them the synergy of a peacebuilding process can be lost. In Guatemala, it is much difficult to see this time of opportunity but Ngarm founds them to Cambodia.

In his Masters dissertation, he writes a peaceful mechanism in need to facilitate a healing process and help the society move forward in order to achieve sustainable peace. (Soth Plai, 2000, p. 54) Later on he proposes a mechanism, a Peace Museum and there is where I come in, and Architect that had start an exploration of elements of peace and history in a project in Guatemala and that Ngarm gets to see it, Emma Leslie and him invite me to do an Internship in Cambodia and to develop this idea. During the process I also started to study the program of ACTS and to be immersing in the discussions of the Peacebuilding field with my batch from conflict areas in Asia, this opened my Latin American vision to think in two continents, and its similarities, its processes, and their timing on its dynamics.

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Religion became a big question for me, even Ngarm told me that the museum will not have a religious focus, I had to make sense of the different religions around, is a cultural element, it’s a parallel component of the history. The religious component is part of the history, so I need it to make sense of it. From being a Hindu country in the Angkorian time to the change to Buddhism and then to the time of the Khmer Rouge were religion was suppress.

I had to have a general knowledge of the religions so different of my background of a Roman Catholic majority context that is so different at the ones of my country to respect them on my design, and because they play a major role on life. As religion can be a source of conflict, so I had to prevent that my architecture become a source of trauma, and pain rather than a place of encounter and tolerance; to do so along with readings and conversations. I visit temples or buildings related to this topic; Angkor Wat, and Bayon Temple to the transition of Hinduism to Buddhism in Siem Reap. Wat Phnom, Wat Lanka, the Silver Pagoda to the Buddhist perspective in Phnom Penh and the White Elephant what in Battambang to see the Thai influence on this region. However, not only those religious play a role in Cambodia context because I was only focusing on the majority, so I explored Chinese Temples in Vietnam (two minority groups in Cambodia, the Chinese and the Vietnamese). Durbar Square, other world heritage site in Nepal to explore Hinduism, and the National Mosque and the Islamic Museum in Malaysia to see Islamic structures (The Cham, are a Cambodian Islamic group targeted by the Khmer Rouge regime). To open the Museum’s vision I realize the importance of a broader vision of the Museum is required.

Then I returned to focus in technical aspects, localization was a dilemma at the beginning of the process the location was Battambang, northern part of Cambodia, then the name of Palin was rise, this province is border to Battambang but closer to Thailand, and it was one of the latest places of occupation of the Khmer Rouge. The decision was Battambang at the province of Ksach Poy Village for and the decision was highly determine

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by the ownership of a plot of land, this will concentrate the efforts of fund racing to the construction part, whereas the economical element is important, the social factor will be much more enriching of the project. Next to this plot of land there is already the base of the Friends for Economic Development Association –FEDA- this association has being an entity of empowerment and development for this community with its programs of garment, peace education, music, dance, and English classes with income programs, like kayaking, and a coffee place. This association keeps the dynamics of this community from 1994, and from my point of view, is one of those places that open up the vision of people to long-term process and to strategy. From this almost 20 years of existing, FEDA involves elements of positive peace, leadership, commitment and a vision of long term. This association already has built a school, offices, and a performance center along with exterior facilitations for playing. So part of the opportunities of the Peace Museum here is that this community already is a experience part of a process of transformation, that will influence the architectonic element and will bring it to life.

This community has already influence me, I had experienced the richness of its activities, and I think the Museum and then could have a dialogue and influence each other to keep a dynamic process. Determining the location also made me look for the icons that people feel related to. Battambang is known for its green oranges and my client, Ngarm, feels that a relevant process of healing could be found on the spiral of trauma healing. Therefore, I started to observe oranges and I think this element is very interesting icon; it breaks with the assumption that oranges are orange, and because of the orange from Battambang, the famous one is green, lateral thinking comes aboard the proposal. Therefore, the skin of the orange appears into de design.

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Figure 5 The orange sking. From the series of oranges pelead as part of the study of shape for the PM

Environmental considerations also come to my mind, minimize the use of air conditioning is one of my priorities, and how to do this? Well I propose a cross ventilation system, minimizing the impact to nature is key but also integrating the user to it, and designing this place to be as sustainable as it can be. Vernacular architecture has a big knowledge on this; they keep the constructions not much wide so the flow of air is increased by fans. Another element use in Cambodia is rising the structures from the floor, this creates another affluent of air, so the movement is integral, along the sides, but also above and below.

A rising idea to cool down the museum is the use of serial plans to control the solar radiation but using the light, and also considering the wide of the root, so the roof will be another source of shade and it must be use to collect water that could be use also for the suitability of the museum. Solar panels could also be use to maximize the use of natural resources as the sun in Cambodia, that is privilege by its position on the 130N, 105 E. At this level my focus on the theoretical background was on the theory of museums, and to review of the existing about Peace Museums and to establish the differences between the design to be propose and the already establish museum in Cambodia. The trend of the design is also determined at this cycle.

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On the research: Understanding Inter-Ethnic Relations and National Identity in Cambodia (Meas & Miletic, 2007, p. 102) the autor ask about elements to be proud of for people of Cambodia. The top three responses were Angkor Wat and ancient temples, the traditional art/music culture and the progress in peace. In informal conversations I asked why people think an architectural element, is the one of the highest ranked aspects of Cambodia to be proud? The outcome was surprising for me, to see the sense of identity related to land and to history plays a big effect in Cambodia, and some even said about the warriors and the trend of nationalistic proud. That drove me to stay away of relating my design to the Angkorian Period, because is not the aim of the Peace Museum.

Once again interaction with certain group of people reinforced the desire of the project. I had the chance to meet the characters of the book The Monk, The Farmer, the Merchant, The Mother, because of a request of the author Anne Best to see them after 10 years of the book’s publication. I went with Emma Leslie and Soth Saro. I saw how eager they are of connecting to younger generations, Mey Sampho, the monk, traduced his story from English to Khmer, and Nun Chhuod, the Merchant and Soth Saro, found it was a great idea, so more Cambodian people could read it.

“How valuable is this openness to talk. Despite of the suffered lived what they are thinking how to help their younger generations, how to pass on, they look happy and energetic of thinking on this project, they want to do it!” (Research Journal, 2011) In its aim to contribute their society, they are transcending.

In part of this cycle I collected technical data, land extension, north and south positioning, the direction of winds an specific visit to the place with Soth Plain Ngarm facilitate the imagine of the project in the actual location. The architectural program draft is defined It should include a time line, a garden of reflections, a place for solitude and may be at the pound, a place to collective reflections and for storytelling.

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Shape ideas started to pop, spiral, and transparent roof, a ramp going on to a roof that is a garden. Some sketches along on the time of the forth module of ACTS and it is the module of ACTION for Conflict Transformation, and this set up my reflection of my role.

The framework of Elise Boulding help me to think about the interconnection of generations, of the 200 years period of influence, of the role of identity to imaging things, different scenarios, different conditions. A Peace Research Methodology course with Tania Miletic and Soth Plain Ngarm help me to “peel” up the process, and a questioning process of Soth Plai Ngarm: How does the person “democracy” looks like? To this group of participants that are living in conflict countries, and that it was so difficult to answer, keep me thinking.

Why is that we have such a hard time just saying what it is democracy? How deep the influence of war is in the subconscious of the participants from post conflict countries interfere with positive ideas like peace, democracy, etc.? How do we achieve democracy if we cannot describe it? It is the same for Peace? We have to educate us to think in Peace, not in the absence of War. Mind setting, we have to change first us, lateral thinking, deconstructivism, I am not sure of giving a name to this, but it is a journey that starts with us, is a way of living. First I have to change to change on social paradigms” (Dávila Illescas, Research Journal, 2011) at this stage, this name of “peacebuilder” seems to start feting me.

I talked to Tania Miletic and Marysol Dávila Illescas about how I can capture the concept of my research and this type of ‘work’ within peacebuilding to present it later on at the Eastern Mennonite University, and with them, the title of “peacebuildingS” came up. Written with a final capital S. 2. Cycle 2 The second cycle was conducted on three sessions of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Easter Mennonite University, the Arts and Media Peacebuilding from the first class the learning’s of aesthetical process as element of transformation, promotion of critical thinking 28

encourage me. During the section I was persuade to keep creative process to stimulate my thinking along with the reading of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the oppressed, I experienced a Art as a mechanism of reflection of my readings, of my learning’s of the dialogues. The facilitation of Babu Ayindo, a Kenyan peacebuilder and its techniques of the Theatre of the oppressed stimulates the imagination. I can listen him in my head with his drumming and talking about being “spect-actors” not only being spectators but also being actors. Imagine a different end to situations; we analyze power dynamics translating the triangle of power to positions played by us. During this session, we did collective poetry; we learn toitoy and reflect on ritual with Lisa Schirch.

As part of the class we had to work in a project and use the arts in peacebuilding, I worked with Jonathan White, a researcher base in Washington DC, that I meat in Cambodia while we were doing our Internship in CPCS in 2010. The plan was to use Apsara traditional dancing to tell Khmer Rouge stories. While we were developing this idea, Emma Leslie send pictures of a distribution of toys for one of the Refugee camps along the border or Thailand and Cambodia because of the violence up comes in the border at the time. So saw the need to transform our project and instead we plan a project of the use of Arts in the Refugee camps to minimize stress of the trauma of running away. Our plan design covered areas of Cambodia and Thailand and the vision was that in a long term to set up a process of reconciliation between neighbors.

Along this process, I realize how much I have learned of Cambodia. Jon and I were able to present to others the problematic, context, etc., and that gave me more confidence on my knowledge. We were able to raise awareness on issues of Cambodia, and we could answer clearly to questions that our classmates were asking.

Paulette Moore, documentary filmmaker, educator and journalist tutor of the class, encourage us to make use of Media, she opened a window to the theoretical background that I

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was looking of how work in context of postwar process of reconciliation without creating more pain. She made me experience “the power of arts” On this class, frameworks of Lisa Cohen appear, and Barbie Fischer’s paper two of the brain. During this session, I had a freedom of experimenting art with an intercultural group from around the world. In addition, I experienced the transformative power of storytelling. Rubina Ferrazi, from Pakistani, told us a story about a little girl “Tornal” that wanted things differently and other social concerns rose like, struggles of religion inclusiveness or the quest for critical thinking after Osama Bin Laden’s murder, or the situation in el Cairo. Concerns on violence and prisons systems, communities’ interactions, and environment issues were raise during this class, all using the arts to create conscience, to promote change and along that, our internal transformation and community building by the arts.

The birthday night of Paulette Moore’s birthday, each of us told a story, our story. I experienced the love that this story creates, my internal transformation, and I realize how powerful I was. The richness of telling our story allowed us to bond, to see beyond barriers, to connect, and to liberate ourselves.

In addition, I thought how to use this same model to Cambodia, to the Peace Museum to transcend. The next class was Philosophy and praxis of Reconciliation was lead by PhD Hizquias Assefa, and his experience on different contexts, made me closer to the aims of reconciliation, especially to the importance of the participation on the process. His perspective of levels of dimensions of reconciliation, and his remind that forgiveness is not a rational process rather a journey of the heart and the mind. He said that poetry could be one way of starting the journey and I though eureka!! Arts and rituals might be two ways of connection of the whole self. Physical, emotionally and rationally in this two elements the self is component of the process of forgiveness and then to the process of reconciliation. Prof.

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Assefa talked about the filters that we have to see the world, and how a mindfulness process can lead us to a state of transcendence.

Professor Assefa also talked about dimensions of a reconciliation process and most of them I agree with the need of interconnection and double way influence. The dimensions that he sees are: the self meaning the psychological, the neighbor meaning the social, the nature meaning the ecological and God, in the spiritual level. I still have my hesitation if this model applies to me in the part of reconciliation with God, but for most people I think it does, perhaps to the God part it needs to be find another world, because for instance in Buddhism there is not god, but is more into the path of life, is very much like “da-ling”. Is a different sense of spirituality. During this class I encompass found out that teaching, does not happened only in the classroom, and that every experience of life is a lecture that life itself is giving to us. Open up the senses being “mindless” to learn, is the key. In this class the project of reflection of the process of reconciliation in Guatemala, created me confusion and in some point I think I was a little bit “divorce” of my country, but seeing it from outside, and see other examples like Nigeria, South Africa and Sri Lanka made me recognize some positivism. Different mechanisms like trials or truth commissions and the role of integrated models.

Moreover, the importance or participation showed in his Spectrum was a mayor instrument for reflection. After this class I tuck Research as Art and Transformation, another class with Paulette Moore and with Howard Zehr, a well know theorist of Restorative Justice, that influence the framework of the Peace Museum of Soth Plain Ngarm. In this class, the focus was the use of Art to bridge victims and perpetrators and our role as facilitators of this process. Howard has use photography and interview as mechanism for this. During this class I was the guest speaker of the frontier luncheon, were 83 participants around the world were having lunch into topics of interest. This 16th Summer Peacebuilding Institute was focusing

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in Arts. Therefore, they invited me to present my ideas on Architecture merging Peacebuilding. I presented the project I design in Guatemala. “PeacebuildingS” was the name of the dissertation And during this lecture I plan a survey to collect peacebuilders perspective into the Peace Museum for Cambodia. I decide to use the arts. The instruments of collection were color paper, crayons, and clay. The first question was a simple close question yes/no response and then I ask for role-playing if they were Peace Architects (a new term) what shape they would give to the Peace Museum? In addition, the last questions of what icon, idea, quote for reconciliation to be included in the museum. The process was video recorded video and photography of their expressions and the connection looking for the positive process of thinking, imagining “what could be?” not only with the rational part but also with the creative side.

Figure 6 David Brubaker, PhD Practicum Director, Associate Professor of Organizational Studies Expertise: Healthy organizations, leadership, group conflict, and change processes; consulting within non-profit organizations, workplace mediation, education

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Figure 7 Creative process during FGD

Figure 8 Art data created during FGD in EMU

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Figure 9 Barry Hart, PhD Academic Director, Professor of Trauma, Identity & Conflict Studies Expertise: Conflict transformation, prejudice reduction, trauma awareness and recovery, reconciliation in Northen Ireland and Africa

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Figure 10 Data from the survey in EMU, to the question should we show the past in a Peace Museum?

Figure 11 From the survey in EMU art data regarding the question: What shape the PM for Cambodia should have?

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Figure 12 Art Data from the survay in EMU

Figure 13 Art Data one of the symbols for reconciliation. Rituals for peace

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Figure 14 Symbols, shapes, activities for the PM with a worldwide perspective

The previous month attending classes helped me to establish enough trust in a process, enough confidence and freedom to participate of not, people from India and Nigeria were taking care of me if I had enough sleep the night previous, they were praying for my success.

Friends from my first art class were on board, Paulette Moore and Danielle Taylor taking video, Jonathan White taking photographs. Moreover, this allowed the process to have the 37

randomness that it needs. I did not ask for any identification of the survey, this process need it to be as free as possible, as transformative as possible, I was looking of how with this background of conflict studies we create symbols, collective symbols, symbols of humanity.

So that is why religion, gender, country, was an intentional omission, when you think that we all want Peace. At the end of the speech, I got hugs from people working in Sierra Leone.

Comments like “This is what happens in X museum, you feel horrible because there is no transformation…we need you in Y country”. (Research Journal, 12th June 2011) A question that I had with me from time ago is how we can make these places one that show this sadness and painful chapters of history can become a mechanism of reconciliation.

In addition, how to avoid tension with my actions to painful situations was answer while I was playing a video of the conflict in Guatemala. I showed war, but not only war, I showed also the efforts for peace, the Trainings of the Centre for Peace and Action for Conflict Transformation –PAZci- in Guatemala. While I was observing that flow, that balance that I have to reach in the Peace Museum, that positive outcome of the experience, because people left the room with criticism of the role of a museum for Peace, with hope and I hope inspiration for their job.

Moreover, after a visit to the Washington Mall more comments on my luncheon arises, you are right! I feel terrible! I when with my husband to the Holocaust Museum and I feel terrible (Dávila Illescas, 2011).

3. Cycle 3 The Cycle started analyzing and processing the data gathered in the survey. As consecuence, I created THE list (See figure 16). This list is the gathering of the mayority of wishes of the participants of the FGD for the PM. Circular shapes were the higher tendency and with these icons, the ideas of my client Soth Plai and my experience in Cambodian context I started assign shapes.

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Figure 15 THE list, information from the survey performed on EMU

The repetitive patter of spiral and an icon familiar to Khmer society settled the primary analogy of the design. The skin of a green orange, which has the particularity to grow in Battambang, the place for the museum merging it with the diagram of the spiral of trauma 39

healing journey from the STAR program of the Center for Peace and Justice of the Eastern Mennonite University.

The entrance of the museum is an invitation to enter in a deep journey in an embracive is part of one of the fist curves of the spiral and it leads to the enter point, similarly as the enter point of the spiral trauma diagram.

The historical part of the path was dividing in three segments: pre-Khmer Rouge, the Khmer Rouge and Post, following at least 100-year previous the Khmer Rouge and a 100 years after it.

The first area of the museum the pre-Khmer Rouge starts with a curve shape. It connects to the second curve that represent the Khmer Rouge time. Both areas connected create a circle. The next section of the museum starts as a division of the path. The choice is to do as many times the circular path of the past as is need but then the other choice is to walk along the next step, the peacebuilding hall. This hall, the post Khmer Rouge period is a ramp, like a process. It represents the ideal of change and a different state of mind.

The ramp has big windows in an opportunity for interaction of the internal and external areas. In addition to stimulate the journey of both the physical and physiological, self journey. In addition, this part is where in the building the peacebuilders and efforts of people involve. Is also important to show that Cambodia is an admirable example of transformation, and as human we have the tendency to forget the good things, the success of this museum to be a truly Peace Museum will be on that on remember that to the users. The design aims to guide the user to keep a fluidity in their state of mine, showing the past, but also showing the transformation process. There will be two ramps, one in concrete, with a room under it for storytelling, workshops, etc., and the other ramp will be in wood or bamboo, matching the house of light and knowledge FEDA’s 3school in Ksach Poy Village, near the city of

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http://fedacambodia.org/

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Battambang in north-western Cambodia. The next space will be a coffee shop where people can reflect. One icon suggested on the survey illustrated the Table of Peace (See figure 14) eating and drinking are part of the rituals. This space recalls to reflection, individual and collectively with the aim of encouraging the reconstruction of relationships.

During the lecture of Dr Sina Emde, a German-Cambodian researcher how have being working on the province of Takeo, a Cambodian province about memory and mourning. She pointed the cultural values and the rituals to memoir and to tell their story including art, she remained me of my notes of the visit to Takeo in 2010, were a survivor was talking about how they need to preserve the skulls of the people murdered and for that the creation of concrete and glass.

With this lecture, I realize that the main difference of this Peace Museum and the Genocide Museum or difference of the Stupas that are memorial to Killing Fields around Cambodia is that in this new Museum, the sense of ghost will not be there. Is an opportunity for a different approach for the Peace Museum.

4. Cycle 4 This cycle presented to my client the icons, symbols, shapes, paths, areas that the Museum’s design will have, he added the idea of a wall of the orange to paint murals and tell stories. He also added more aspects from the sustainability perspective, more solar panels in to be use as roofs for shadows. In the function aspect, adding internal rooms for activities related to the topics of the period, and more isolation to use media. He also pointed controlled climate solutions for the circular area. During the evolution of this cycle, I saw the need of showing the project to another architect, to work on the shapes. I had a Skype meeting with the Architect Alex Gålvez, a Guatemalan colleague, his pointed up the need of more flow in the shapes, to involve the user at the entrance, to use serial plans in a massive scale, and to use the orange skin to integrate the shape.

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He pointed also other key elements related in to the technological part of the building that that are out of the focus of this research like construction systems, techniques, constructors and execution.

The design will continue with more focuses on the technology, the climate considerations, and more on the technique of building but the soul of the building, were created during this study using Peacebuilding lens.

Figure 16 Conceptual map of the process of the PM during the cycle 4

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CHAPTER V RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION Moreover, to create the conceptual design for a physical space conducive to a peacebuilding process based in a framework designed by a Cambodian Peacebuilder, Soth Plai Ngarm for the Peace Museum for Cambodia. Defining the nature of the project was the first step as even the concept of a peace museum required exploration.

1. What is a Peace Museum?

The concept of a Peace Museum is evolving. It started as a way of collecting artifacts regarding war. Then it evolves as mechanism to learn, reflect not only about the collection of items but also about the memories. Soth Plain Ngarm design a framework that looks as elements of Restorative Justice in the aim of helping to restore relationships on the Post conflict time in Cambodia. Moreover, this paper looks at a Peace Museum mechanism as a facilitator of reflection, learning and envisioning the future. In addition, it looks at a Peace Museum physically, the space, shapes, paths that could be suitable to promote a process of healing and envisioning the future.

2. Levels of interaction The peace museum as a building aims to have several levels of impact and interaction.

Psychologically and emotionally, influence in the personal level (1). In the society level (2) It aims to be influenced by the FEDA community of Ksach Poy province in Battambang in Cambodia, that had already a long process or peacebuilding. In the other way the museum will influence the community by bringing local and international tourism aiming to have a learning and reflective experience. In the regional level (3) it can be a learning place for Cambodians interested in the peace process of Cambodia, students, practitioners and general

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public. Globaly (4) it could represent as Cambodia does a please were to learn, reflect understand and from the local efforts to the International community.

Figure 17 Interaction levels of the peace museum as a physical space

3. Peace Architecture, Architecture with a peacebuilding lens This project conception was as a peacebuilding intervention. With the purpose of developing a proposal that was proactive toward peace avoiding being a museum against war.

Within this idea being a proactive mechanism not a reactive one. The leading framework becomes a new vision for the use of this mechanism; Soth Plai’s vision of the peace museum for Cambodia. Hi’s three different dimensions that the peace museum might address. The first one is the political, second the social and the third one the combination of the emotional and spiritual. He also describes six different interactions: truth, memory, and history might be addressed in the political, social, emotional and spiritual factors of Cambodians.

(2) Justice and healing might be achieved on the social, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. (3) Awareness on the Prevention of atrocities might be addressed on the political

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and social levels. (4) Reparation to the victims, perpetrators and communities in the social level, (5) forgive in the emotional and spiritual first, then in the social dimension and finally in the political and (6) forgetting in the emotional and spiritual. All these levels are interconnected. Moreover, this interconnection defined the spaces in this design and the intention that each physical space will project to the user. (See figure 1) The social norms, behaviors, and interactions lead to the guiding of shaping physical spaces and intentions. One example of this is the ramps, and the social and cultural aim of reaching for the sky. In power dynamics (political level) is the King being in a high position, in the spiritual (emotional and spiritual level) are the Stupas reaching to the highest or the mountains places for the goods. All of them symbolize a higher level and all of these examples deeply rooted in Cambodian’s culture (cultural level). The three dimensions that Soth Plain points to be address, I translated them in an icon with the aim of addressing different elements of the framework and on the process of peacebuilding of Cambodia.

4. Imagining Cambodia’s Future: Adapting Elise Boulding’s Imagine framework Since this peacebuilding conception, it was natural to keep relating other peacebuilding frameworks to shape an architectural project. The step of using this building as a peacebuilding process lead me to study the imaginary framework of Elise Boulding, and adapt her set of time of the 200 years. This time setting, represent a dialogue between the building and the user. During the first part is the museum telling the story to the users by icons, pictures, media, art, etc. However this role changes along the walkthrough, the second part of the process will use dialogues and storytelling settings (addressing the true, the memory and history) so the building becomes the setting of the storytelling, and in the third part of the museum is a dialogue in both ways. This framework could help to understand better what happened in Cambodia. Especially this might help to stop the stereotype of “Khmer kill Khmer” as some Cambodians say. However, I believe that the 200 years most be the focus I 45

also believe that references of the Angkorian time might be important to add, avoiding the historical nationalism. In addition I think that this period of the 100 years after the will work for a ten years projection, but it will need to be extended in the future.

4.1 Promoting Peace through the Power of Storytelling The building’s design, from its conception, aims to empower through being a mechanism for the promotion of peace. Without a doubt it encourages the prevention of genocide, especially in the context that it is located, but part of my conception is to promote, this is very difficult because in our world we find easy to discover what is lacking, rather of founding the opportunities that we have. From my experience of coming from a country with pastprotracted conflict, we entangled ourselves in the dynamic of the challenges of rebuilding our societies that sometimes we found very difficult to find ways to keep the process.

Promoting empowerment by lateral thinking, awareness, and education is very important to rebuild the social fabric and to prevent (might be achieve in the social and cultural levels) these successes. By telling stories through icons, pictures, media, paintings, murals, quilting, poetry, dance this awareness might be achieved, and the architectural role is to create spaces to induce this process.

4.2 Encouraging Participation to Achieve Reconciliation Asking about the past is part of the process of healing (in the spiritual, and emotional level along with the social level), forgiveness (might progressively be achieved, in the three levels) and dialogue can lead to reconciliation; core elements of Restorative Justice can be apply here, as I have already discuss. However, this framework must be adapted to this context. From my perspective, the key elements that the considerations of the three actors of this process being involve, is important to look for healing in the peacebuilding process.

One key element from Restorative Justice that could be adapt to Cambodia is that it does not aim to point at a single and only truth and in this cases there are many of them. Many 46

actions and perceptions of the events, they could be listening and it might help in the process of forgiving. Mechanism that could encourage making right the “wrongs” as this framework refers is important in this society.

5. Key Social and Cultural Factors shaping a Peace Museum It was wonderful to discover how deep the cultural values play an important role in Cambodian life. This was not a simple task, not even a conscious task, or a measurable element. They are only realizations of elements that are different to my culture and that in Cambodian play a major role. Moreover, that I used to define shapes paths, spaces and the building in general. A more in-depth understanding of these factors may lead to a better architectural response.

5.1 Ghosts This is a cultural heresy and a way to explain in life. Ghosts are in many cultures, but here are perceived as energy surrounding the living, and that is why communities asked for Stupas, at the killing fields, so that the ghosts can rest and stop hunting them. Part of building this Museum in Battambang in the plot where is planned to be built. Is important because this plot is free of ghost and in a way, this might help the healing process. In the actual museums, people believe that there are ghosts, which hinders the healing process. Taking that tension of the current places of memory might help to the process of healing.

5.2 “Saving face” and Codes of Behaviour Seanglim describes the Cambodian need to keep their emotional control, to follow the norms of behavior, and even to accept what happens as part of karma or we can say destiny.

Nevertheless, this is normal within all cultures, each has cultural codes that rule social behavior. However, here it is important to recognize this reaction in this context. I notice a way of handling painful situations is by giving a nervous smile. During my visits to Toul

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Sleng, also known as the Genocide museum, I noticed a lot of this behavior. A major criticism of this museum is that it is a means to “save face” to the international world. Yet the museum, with the aim of adhering to international cultural practices, forbids people from smiling – the cultural response of Cambodians to painful situations. I believe it is important to respect this social code, and not to suppress it. However in this museum the aim is to create a safe physical space to express these emotions, without judgment, and through being a museum that presents peace it looks to stay away of much social tension. Understanding the cultural behavior is part of a process of empowerment, and in my vision is part of dignifying Cambodian culture, and using Cambodian ways, rather than emulate “civilized ways”. It is difficult in this globalized world, and I was worried that through being a foreigner I would impose external ways, my ways, on the Cambodian people. Nevertheless that was why this process for me was important, to understand, recognize, examine and be able to design with enough confidence. In the Peacebuilders’ forum of 2010 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi recognized the role the “fresh view” of outsiders played in Kenya’s conflict during 2004. In addition to the experience that I had studying the reconciliation case in my country during the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, the questions and reflections from my working group, the “outsiders” of my contexts to understand it and to look for other in puts to the process. This realization of the role of the “outsider” helped me to look deeper in to the opportunities that the Cambodian process have, and to enforce the positive values of this culture and to stay away from the elements that produce tension in this culture.

5.3 Talking about the past It was really interesting to witness the differences with which Cambodians view the past.

There were those who said that they did not want to discuss it as it hurts, which is absolutely understandable, and so it was very surprising when, after a few minutes, they would start to tell their story. Other sections of the population openly accept that they want to share what 48

happened. This is ideal with a cup of coffee but the most important part for this is the need for trust.

6. Defining peace architecture: aesthetics, icons, shapes and symbols Art could be a way to talk about the past, envision the future, and tell a story. Through its nature, art can engage more than the rational; it can be a vehicle for the mind, the heart, and the spirit to transcend. Encouraging process of creation could be an important role in the museum. Placing a quote, a drawing, a sculpture or a poem are simple but significant moments of creation. This could lead to reflect and to a process of making decision for the users to define their future, is part of the empowering and healing process that this design aims to achieve.

This building looks to be a physical space that encourages awareness and establishes dialogues, to wonder, to ask, and it empowers through creative action.

Architecture with its artistic component looks to promote all of these characteristics by creating symbols and by shaping physical space. Symbols are social icons that groups accept.

These symbols are codes, for example colors, as the red color of the traffic light, by social agreement, means to stop.

Building symbols for peace is a complex task. However, it is fascinating to do it, and to see how the local, regional, and global understanding of peace can actually have a shape. The research covered a wide-range open perspective of participants of different backgrounds, religious beliefs, genders, and ages. This created an interesting and wide-open range of symbols towards peace. This process opened a door for peace practitioners to experience what an aesthetical process can do, and to explore the capacities of Architecture in to the Peacebuilding field.

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6.1 The symbols of the design 6.1.1 Spiral and the orange The first symbol used links Cambodian culture and context to a process of healing; the spiral path, from the spiral diagram of healing, merged with the orange skin looks uses symbols with the intention of not creating tension when one first encounters the building. The use of curves relates to the intention of a symbol of a path of alternatives rather than a straight one or only way. (See figure 18)

Figure 18 Function/Shape. Spiral and orange. Diagrams of cycle 3

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6.1.2 A division as the opportunity and making choices he next symbol is in the section of the path telling the history, where the user can decide to walk as many times as they wish through the causes of the conflict, and the period of 19741979 or to see the process of building peace in Cambodia, it’s a division of the walkthrough.

This will depend entirely to the user and the processing and learning. (See figure 19)

Figure 19Area of the museum were the user can choose between going around the causes of the conflict and the conflict itself or go to the area of peacebuilding efforts of rebuilding Cambodia

6.1.3 Repetition This is a complex concept to explain, in architecture we repeat elements, sometimes as ornament and other to create shapes and most of the time to provide to the building of certain rhythm. The Hindu tended to do this quite often and in the merge with the animism. This tendency of multiplicity illustrates a sense of unity. Furthermore, the multiple faces and arms represent, power, and wisdom. This concept did adapt in Cambodia particular characteristics, influencing architecture, from temples to houses and buildings.

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Is a social code that is pleasant in the physique of Cambodians and most cultures as a pattern of beauty, like the symmetry of the body, this is two times the same pattern. The five or seven headed snakes are a local example, or the three head elephants. The repetition of the Roman arch in the Coliseum and even the repetition of many times of the Muslim stars of the Petronas towers shaping this Malay icon, and many more examples of worldwide appreciation of this concept.

I used this concept specifically to control the climatic comfort of the building and to create a relationship between the inside and outside of it without covering completely the facades. (See figure 20)

Figure 20 The concept of repetition. Used during cycle 4

6.1.4 Scale and the ramps The scale is the perception of how small or big spaces are, this has an impact in the user’s perception. In this design the use of big scale of windows and doors, refers to the openness that this building aims to represent. The ramp by the other side represent this human aim of transcend to a higher level. Gothic cathedrals, the sitting place of monks in relation to the rest of the people, the aim of building Stupas to reach the sky or skyscrapers, has this human representation of representing a sense of conquer. In this building, it does not represent a

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status a division, or even a segregation of just some getting to the top; it rather searches to show how all users can follow the path of peace, until the conquest, is an empowering path, an inclusive and humanizing walk.

Figure 21 Graphic of the vertical scale and use of ramps

6.1.5 Nature and men/ Men and nature Natural elements will surround the design; the central garden plays an important role in the process of healing and reflecting that the design aims. The importance of water in Cambodian context with a long history of hydraulic systems looks to create an atmosphere inductive for the users and the process that is being taking inside. Reconciliation, according to Dr. Assefa includes the relationship between man and nature. In this case, the use of these elements is part of inducing relationships built.

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CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATIONS Peaces Museums are complex organisms. The vision of this peace museum is to address a process of transformation in three layers: the social, the political, the spiritual, and the emotional. All of these layers are interconnect in complex relationships as part of the accepted social norms and power dynamics norms routed in the Cambodian context.

Understanding this interaction was a key element to design the symbols to use in the project. All of this shapes, icons, and paths support process of reconciliation, justice, learning, healing, empowerment staying away of national historicism, stereotypes, religious and ethnic segregation. This could be possible by the holistic background of participants.

Soth Plain’s local perspective was the leading framework and with that core, the rest of elements started to get together to the result of the design.

The resulting symbols propose follow the idea of being a museum toward peace rather than an anti war or anti genocide museum. This affirmation defined completely the sense of the museum and it leads my aim of layering a design that encompassed the heart, the mind, and the process of Cambodia’s reconstruction process.

However, reconciliation is an effort of different levels, including institutional, international and national to be achieve.

Is important to mention that forgiveness and transcendence should not be pressure to happen but it might happen creating a setting for it. I hope that this conceptual design of the architectural proposal for the peace museum for Cambodia is a true reflex of what peacebuilding and architecture can do, when they combine together with the aim of another world.

One of the main limitations of the research was the difficulties associated with a language barrier. Languages require a cultural context, and the essence of concepts, traditions and 54

words would often require further explanation in order to overcome the difficulties presented by both researcher and participants communicating in a language that was not their native tongue. Through translation, it is easy to lose context and meaning, and it was essential that this not occur. This was overcome by the repetition of questions in different formats to ensure that the meaning taken from the conversation was the meaning intended by the participant. This was combined with attempts to experience the cultural context that was being referred to, and this often provided invaluable insight, which helped overcome this limitation.

Another limitation was the lack of previous study into the field of peace architecture.

Literature on specific topic such as symbols, how to address cultural values of post-conflict societies, and the use of architecture to encourage lateral thinking, was often lacking. Peace architecture is an emerging field, and it was difficult to express such abstract concepts into language that was understandable to members of the different fields. Peacebuilders would struggle to understand architectural concepts; while architects would struggle to understand the concepts of peacebuilding. I recommend developing a common language between both fields. This would help enable peace architecture to be used in different branches of architecture, such as rebuilding in post-war time.

It could also integrate to urbanism incorporating peace architecture into urban design would help social relationships in to urban environments and maybe promote peaceful relationships in to development of cities.

Peace Architecture could also play a role in the conservation of patrimony. Preserving human heritage of social groups could empower identity of groups, but it needs to be understood in a way to bring peace and not create conflictive relationships or historical nationalism.

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Green concepts of architecture can also be related to vernacular architecture; how grassroots communities build is more in touch with their context as they have experienced it.

Incorporating such local practices as traditional forms of ventilation or capturing water and recycling it can help improve green architecture.

Integrating Burton’s theory of needs into architecture would ensure that people’s needs and identity are incorporated into the design thus ensuring that their dignity is preserved, which will promote reconciliation within the community and with nature. The potential of this is not only in buildings but also in land issues.

These concepts have being not tested yet. This is one of the first attempts to integrate these fields. I recommend further examination after the design be built. To discuss with the users their perceptions of the experiences they have gained through the museum. Regarding to the interior of the museum I recommend also an interactive and periodical setting with regular updates to the exhibition to keep the dynamic of the peace museum alive.

I recommend encouraging the expression of society by the connection between the mind, heart, and spirit art can be a way, but I am sure there are many others still to be found. To promote or to look into other supportive systems that are inclusive to post-war countries so that they can get in touch with their sense of identity so that they can prevent further conflict.

I celebrate the holistic initiatives around the world working toward peace. Another world is possible, without a doubt.

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Ramsbotham, O., & Et-al. (2005). Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press.

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1 Conceptual draft of the PM incorporationg the symbols of the research.

Appendix 2 Sketch of the frontal view

Appendix 3 Sketch of the back view

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