asian architecture + urbanism :: assignment 3 C h e n g q i +
J o e l
W a n g
H u z z e y
C l o c k M u s e u m o f the cu lt u r al revolu t ion
Design Strategies :: Liu Jiakun :: Clock Museum of the Cultural Revolution J i a k u n ’s m u s e u m i s a m b i g u o u s a n d l a y e r e d i n i t s s t r a t e g i e s o f s p a t i a l r e f e r e n c e . A s a m u s e u m o f t h e C u l t u r a l R e v o l u t i o n i t ’s r e s o n a n c e s o f m e m o r y, c u l t u r e a n d p o l i t i c s are Architecture and exhibition in one; phenomenology of a China (place) in time.
context / issue :: i.
m e m o r y, c u l t u r e , p o l i t i c s
layered strategies / three pavilions
01 circle, 02 square, 03 rectangle
l i g h t / s p a c e : : L - 0 1 , 0 2 , 0 3 Openings only from above carve the light and shadow into pure ethereal phenomenon, removing earthly disorder; curating ephemerality into distilled memories of perception. t e c t o n i c / s p a c e : : T- 0 1 , 0 2 , 0 3 Internal tectonic relations and transitions, construct a monumentalised phenomenal experience, as that of the subject to a religious temple, a prison or the omnipotent state; physical memories.
O - 0 1 , 0 2 , 0 3
( L i u Jiakun )
object / space ::
Anrenzhen,Sichuan,China
c u l t u r a l / s p a c e : : C - 0 1 , 0 2 , 0 3
Objects signify the many layers of Maoist propaganda embedded in daily life during the ‘Red Age’.
The assembly of artifacts, phenomena and tectonic analogy allude to spatial memories both transcendent and deeply rooted in revolutionary China. The overwhelming number of repeated objects and ubiquity of sheer brick underlie the play of monumentality and oppressive pressure throughout.
plan / space ::
P - 0 1 , 0 2 , 0 3
The carefully structured plan articulates a series of pure concepts drawn from historical memory.
con t e x t / c o n c l usion :: i.
light / space :: L-01
Roof niches shed light from the fringe of the narrow hall, casting shards or shadowy contrast onto the floor and walls. A Disk of sun light traverses the pure circle, demarking time in space; the timeless clock.
l i g h t / sp a c e : : L - 0 2
Concrete grill screens cast their cage into the space; or become diffuse, a discomforting ubiquitous exposu re.
light / space :: L-03
Light from above and be hind, silhouetting Mao as a figure of worship. Shafts cut out of the ceiling fringing the high walls, leaving its bulk a silhouette of heavy, f o r e b o d ing shadow.
t ect o n i c / sp a c e :: T- 01
Narrow, high hallways fol low the circular wall; always disappearing, drawing the body onward in movement. Open ings in the deep wall articulate thresholds of the courtyard; a pure circular space with sky framed above marking pause, reflection, a thundering silence. Another dark opening finds a space twice compressed, first horizontally then vertically; the void yawns away, then rushes in, crushing.
te c t o n i c / s p a c e : : T- 0 2
The tall arched axis is severed by the separated volumes, momentari ly ejecting from the heart of interiority. A threshold lintel breaking the arch marks entry into a massive roof less square; sky floods in unseen, screened by a concrete grill, miniaturising the entrant.
t ect o n i c / sp a c e :: T- 03
Entering immediately into the centre the narrow space steps up to either side, staring down, intimidating; tension of the long volume holds, denying the ease of progression. Dark underside of the high ceiling is pulled away from the walls; space compressed by a barely restrained concrete weight.
object / space :: O-01
Clocks: inlaid with p ro p a g a n d a , insertion of revolution into homes Stamps: insignia of the revolution Badges: image of Mao, one badge per citizen
o b j ec t / sp a c e :: O- 0 2
Flags: sym bol of the red guard, still too sensitive for display Newspapers: propaganda in public media Portraits: iconography of revolutionary figures
object / space :: O-03
Mao statue: om nipotent presence embodied C l a s s r o o m desks: sites of indoctrination Propaganda posters: urban revolutionary presence
cul t u ra l / sp a c e :: C- 0 1
Sky lit clock niches echo into the hallways a soft thunder of ticking, silencing entrants by the monumentality of time. The pure circular court yard recalls the Hakka villages, the reverie of sky and stillness. Badges plastering the low ceiling imagine bodies pressing d own, the darkness, deathly silence of a crowd; antithesis of the triumphal revolutionary march.
c u lt u r a l / s p a c e : : C - 0 2
Exposure and enclosure imagine a public square, or Hall of the People; requiring full traversal, watched by symbolic artifacts of oppression, before reprieve.
cul t u ra l / sp a c e :: C- 0 3
Literal classroom analogy, the long/narrow proportion, stepped floor and circular end defines the directionality of attention, toward teacher Mao, with the artifacts of public education facing him.
plan / space :: P-01
The museum wrapped by a shopping strip. Alluding to the intersection of busy street and temple sanctuary; juxtaposing capitalist consumerism and commu nist memory.
p l a n / sp a c e : : P - 02
Neo-classical axial planning. Recalls Neo-classical Monumen talism as the public urban language of the com munist regime.
plan / space :: P-03
The one directional pathway describing a sequence of spaces. First, nuanced and internal, a reflective break; second, public exposure, annihilation of individual; third, castigation, re-education.