MEMORY UNDERSTANDING THE SITE THROUGH THE LENS OF ITS MEMORY Representation 2 - Magazine Taylor HITTMANN a1763115 Tianyi Wang a1789322 Ha Thanh Le A1814355
Memory is the shadow of the past in life, but also the light of the future. Sometimes memories are scattered pieces of mind, ephemeral Sometimes irrepressible Happy memories are just like clouds, floating, pampering our souls Sorrowful memories are like heavy rain, pouring down unstoppable Anything can be memory, memory can be anything Can one exist without memmory? Yes, but may that be an existence without a soul? MEMORY - SHADOW OF THE PAST 0 1 0MEMORY2 - LIGHT OF THE FUTURE c o n t e n t s
VISION
VISION
Tianyi Wang
I arrived at the site on a quiet afternoon of the weekend, the weather was calm, wind smoothly breezed across the trees, making a peaceful rustle sound. Some cockatoos were hopping in between the woods, ignoring the existence of me, as an intruder. The Brownhill Creek quietly flows through the area, leaving a calming gurgling sound in the background. I have noticed several tree trunks lying on the ground of the site, whether it fell by itself or some folks intentionally timber it down, I have no idea to find out, but it must have happened a long time ago. Now they’re all becoming a part of the landscape, people 1. MEMORY - SHADOW OF THE PAST Like human, landscape also has a memory device which materializes and preserves the course of time through tangible objects. The name of a person carved on the tree bark gives us clue of a person who used to visit Brown Hills Creek. The trail gives us a clue of a whole generation walking through this area. However, compared to landscape’s memory, human’s memory is intangible, more complicated and can be recollected through many senses. Our group collects the memory of each member in the rawest, most primitive form to see how human recollects memory of a landscape, to see if memorizing is just a process of the brain or are memories also stored in our muscle, senses and skin. can sit on those trunks to have some food, or maybe just simply a rest. They used to exist as trees, even when they fell, they remained their existence on the site, and became a part of it. As long as there’s the existence of an object, there is a memory of it, it represents something that happened a long time ago, maybe too long that we, as descendants, couldn’t even tell. I think the site is a good place for meditating, it makes me calm and think about the past.
I arrived at the site early when there were not so many people there. I got lost at first, the area was out of service. Without the help of modern technology, anyone visiting the site was encouraged to explore and engage more in the site, trying to find a clue through the movement of nature. I walked down the trails next to the creek, following the direction of the creek. My first impression of the site was its sound: the babble sound of water as it flowed along the creek, the birds singing, and the ducks playing in the water. As more people coming made the dry leaves crackle, the music of the creek gradually turned backwards, but never disappeared. It is wonderful how I followed that sound to find my direction and even when I found the tutor – our tour guide, the creek sound followed us till the end of the journey and saw us off as we said goodbye to the site. However, as the trail is in the middle of the creek and the driveway, sometimes, I got distracted by the engine’s noise of the car passing by. I want to be brought back to the moment when I just arrived at the site, when there was no human presence, when the driveway was so quiet, I barely saw a car. That is also the moment when the place felt so dear to me, almost sacred like a natural amphitheater, where the musical instruments are trees, rocks, water, and nature was the talented musician.
AUDITION Ha Thanh Le
AUDITION Taylor Hittmann
Arriving at the site just minutes from suburbia you are greeted with the tranquil ambience – quiet and secluded. A path of large rocks crosses the creek bed, the running water swirling around the rocky bed and along the banks of reeds and grasses. Ancient gums and Pinus Pineas’ shade the area in a dappled light, shadows constantly moving as the breeze passes through the leaves. Fallen trees create a habitat for creatures big and small, appearing to have been picked up and placed, almost intentionally. Over a small rise the scenery changes – the creek bed widens and groves of willows line the creek bed creating more obstacles for the rushing water. Small waterfalls and high banks amplify the sound of the water creating a relaxing backdrop of relaxation inducing tones. Across the creek and down an embankment is a small clearing, surrounded by the bush and more or less level with the water. It beckons to anyone who wishes to sit at one with nature and drift away, letting the peace of the surrounding landscape wash over them. Crossing the water carefully stepping from rock to rock, one makes their way through the grass to the small open space, a natural room of solitude. A partially covered moss rock provides the perfect spot to sit. As one looks out from one’s space of tranquility, the dappled light hits the rushing water of the creek and creates a spectacular array of colour and reflection, the most wonderful place to drift away and be at one with your thoughts.
Pui Yichong
Brownhill Creek Recreation Park is a wonderful place in Adelaide. I was there once last week. Cannot forget the feeling and smell! I love smelling, specifically the Nature. When I arrived at the park, I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy all the things in the park such as the smelling, touching. The first impression from the park is the fragrant grass smell surrounding me. I really love this fresh feeling. It can really reduce my Afterstress.that, I walked through the grass area and I arrived at the river. Different smells with the grass. Nearby the river, I smelled sweet and cold. Very special experience when I took a deep breath next to the river in the park. Along the way, I have been admiring the local scenery and enjoying the different smells of grass. What I didn’t expect is that different trees have different smells. The time flies by very quickly, and I will return in about an hour. Watching the same scenery, I found that different moods will have different tastes. When I returned, I dragged my tired mood and felt a taste of memories. I will always remember this taste. Every place in nature, they all have their own unique smell. With the scent of memories, I went back to the car and slept in a fragrant sleep.
OLFACTION
As I arrived on site with my friends, we noticed the creek and all the fallen trees. I instantly wanted to climb all over them as it sparked a memory of me playing as a kid. As I was climbing on a tree I accidentally missed a step and broke a branch as I fell into the creek. My shoe and sock were completely drenched. Although I didn’t care as I saw another tree to climb just up the path, so I just ran off as if nothing happened. I felt like a completely different person while on site, I was filled with so much energy, and all I wanted to do was run around and explore. I climbed the side of a mountain and a heap of more trees. By the end of the day, I explored the entire site and climbed almost every tree I could and even some I could not. Throughout the day I created a lot of memories with my friends, but not all memories I would take with me. As I turned around and took one last look, I saw all of the branches I broke and all of the footprints I had left, so the site also had a memory of me. Brayden
TOUCH
As we experienced the site by different senses and write it down to our memory system, the landscape also observe, smell, taste, touch, and listen to human’s sound. The site also has memory, has their own mind functioning as a complete body, carries a long shadow of the past and following the light of the future. The moment we set foot on the site, it is not an emotionless moment. That’s a sacred moment when two body gets to know each other. While we are worried and cautious about the topography, listening to the sound of each movement of the landscape, it also does the same to us. Human are quicker than the landscape in terms of making decisions and turn all sub-consciousness, assumption into actions to protect themselves in a short time. The landscape, however, gradually gather information of those strange intruders and respond to them even years later. There used to be a swimming pool insite where people of the previous generation used to enjoy their summer days. They did not treat the landscape and water properly that time, leading to the decreased quality followe by the removal of the swimming pool. On the other hand, as the Mitchamp Council attempted to grow more trees and keep the environment clean, Brown Hills Creek becomes more and more appealing to local people and visitors.
Browns Hill Creek has all the memory that makes it unique, makes it a complete soul. As a result, we should get to know the site as much as we try to approach a person. We need to under stand their characteristics, his habits if we want to make them a better/place person who is willing to ac company us until forever.
Browns Hill Creek does have memory, memo ry of a quarry, a swimming pool and the people who grew up Mitchamp decades ago. When the site is ‘alone’, those memories accompany it and help it to adapt to the situation. Although the site can not speak, its memories are written on the topography, sometimes carved on the tree bark.
How to concretize our remembrance of the landscape?
By discussing and collecting personal memories of the site, we understand the site better and explore many new aspects of the site when listening to other’s memory. Although we visited the same site at the same time, our memory of the site deeply varies, from visual memory to sensual memories, and even smell. Not only is memory the ground of self-identity, it is also the the very seed of imagination. Ludwig Wittgenstein once said that ‘I am my world’. Keeping this attitude in mind, our group of 3 people constantly discussed and let our imagination lead us to a dream, where we tell a whole new story of the same site. What if we are the landscape?
2. MEMORY - LIGHT OF THE FUTURE
The creeks lies at the heart of the site, which is straightforward and recognizable. The trail is affected by the creek, the continuous background sound that we listened to during the fieldtrip was the sound of the creek. As a result, we agree that the creek should be the place where the heart of the landscape and the heart of humans are connected, where we shared the same unforgettable memory. How to connect the heart of the site and the heart of the visitor?
What is at the heart of the site?
As we all agree that memory is the ground of selfidentity, to be able to access the memory of the landscape, we have to share its point of view, and stimulates landscape experience. That discussion led to the idea of an underground tunnel where our vision is limited and forces us to experience the site in its rawest form, encourages us to touch, smell and listen to the site instead.
There are many examples of particular building types in architectural history that aims at deliberately stored memories and evoked emotions of a whole generation. At the end of the imaginary journey that we dream of, there is an outdoor open art gallery where all the tangible memory of the site are exhibited. We envision a future where people living nearby can bring their loved ones, grandsons, granddaughters to the site and our outdoor art gallery can help enable their loved ones to enter their land of memory and shared their emotions. Moreover, we also believe that deep memeory requires repetition. We decided not to let visitors take the same way back to the start of the site. Instead, we led them to a observatory where they can see the overall aerial image of the site and can recapture what they have just experienced during the journey. This idea led to Taylor’s observatory.
Based on personal memories of the site, we soon realize that memorizing is not solely a mental act, it also involves muscle memory and our instinctive decision to respond to meaningful life situation. Consequently, the space to connect nature’s and human’s heart should encourage their physical interraction. As civilization hustles forwards, we avoid dirt, avoid water that may soaken our expensive footwears. The gathering space introduces a totally different approach, with the ramp and stairs spirals downwards to the creek, it encourages visitors to actually steps down the water and safely interracts with the creek. Not only does it offer a gathering space amongst group of friends, it offers a gathering space between human and nature.
The design aims at becoming part of the site’s memory where neighbors drop by every other day, jogging, camping, singing in this area. How ever the experience at the site is not limited to these abovementioned activities. The landscape gradually changed to give visitor deeper connection ot the site. As the visitor walk down the trail across the creek, the stone pad leading to the other side of the creek is bigger when it gets clos er to the other side, making it hard to turn back. After the visitor goes through a flowerbed, the grass grow higher and blended into the pavilion, which leads to the tunnel. The tunnel underground is the sensory space where vision is limited and the visitor is encouraged to utilize all other sens es to smell and touch the tree bark and stone inside the pavillion. After exitting the pavillion, visitors goes through several reading/resting shelter which offers a private zone before reaching the underwater cafe. The underground cafe is a small shelter with all the necessary facility (WC, food and beverage). The structure of the cafe lets the creek inside, offering customers a chance to interract with the water while staying inside. The cafe can also be accessed directly from the driveway in a quick
3. DREAM TIMEAN IMAGINARY NARRATIVE
Afterdropby.visiting the cafe, the journey continues at a playground with old design elemeents which brings back visitor’s memory. The visitor may feel lost at this point as an overall map of the site is not Onlyprovided.bycontinuing the journey to the top of the hill can the visitor observe the massive aerial view of the site. The observatory aims at giving the visitor a sense of enlightenment where they realize the location of the previous exploration. This helps enhance the visitors’ memory of the site and gives them a moment of peace. People can read, mediate or simply seesighting at the observatory before returning to the starting point on the elevated trail.
JOURNEY
