Playgrounds of a Memory Palace

Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

PLAYGROUNDS OF A MEMORY PALACE Salma Sherif January 18, 2016

We knew no boundaries and stopped at others, we were all over the place, yet we experienced order, we had destinations to reach, goals to accomplish, time to beat, pressures to face, obstacles to tackle. .. We were part of the natural order of this place, fueled by our bodies and movement.

It is said that our memories are only as good as our buildings. But is it also the other way round? Do memories enliven a place?

Heliopolis Sporting Club, amongst many places I have visited throughout my life, encompasses my most vivid memories and continues to shape my present ones. It has always been associated with movement, from sports to activities that varied the body’s posture and position in space. It is a micro-scaled community, a culture of its own, with its own signs and norms. It is a place where ‘social’ and ‘sports’ co-exist, a confluence of ludic play and social aristocracy. A society which created rules that evolved over time; some perished, others grew and inherited by generations, sharing some of those ideal ideas of ‘sport and social’.

The architecture of this place plays a tremendous part in shaping such society. Its architecture is quite humble yet proud. It is far from being loud nor is it shy. It is present in a way that appears and dims according to the use and action. Its astounding subtleness makes way for movement and minimally disrupts its ‘ecologies of movement’.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

In this very place, I have experienced a wide spectrum and a multiple shades of movements.

Through such variations, the architecture changed and adapted accordingly. The ecologies of this memory palace are the coinciding relationship between how I perceive the place and the way the whole place induces movement, marked by a variety of speed intensities; slow and normal, Fast and Faster.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

SLOW & NORMAL We seek slowness, we seek a refuge to relax and slow down. Infact, Slow living is what many have been seeking in this fast accelerating world where everything has been labeled as fast, fast food, fast money..etc.

This place is a sanctuary for slowness and mindfulness, the way it is organized prepares the mind for such mindfulness. The pathways which lead from one activity to the next penetrate two activities; fast and slow, social and sport, competitive and cooperative. The pathways exhibit those events that are constantly changing. The main axis of movement is between the Croquet Field and the Children’s playgrounds, ends with few stairs and prepares one to enter another part. It slows one down by a social piazza and pathways, branching to another axis that overlooks the pool on one side, and an array of alternating frames of social events; Bulletin boards and windows of the social club that has always been obscured by curtains, only shadows and diffused images of light and figures appear from the outside.

The social club is one of the very slow places; sometimes loud, but mostly still, it is the place that is relatively heavily decorated. The kind of decoration that is always there, staring back at those sitting in place; an image, surrounding the ‘sitting society’ we are so accustomed today, a phenomenon of the last two hundred years (Tenner 2003).

The slowness of the social club as one enters pertains to the loudness and heaviness of the materials used; the large crystal chandeliers, the huge comfy sofas, the cladded marble walls and the gigantic chimney in the middle of the wall. It is a place that rewards our attention, footsteps become heavier as one proceeds in this ‘watched’ space that is full of inherited social expectations.

It dwells in the largest building that lies in the middle of the club where most of the formal social activities take place, its physical existence from outside is diluted by the surrounding activities and movement that are exposed, loud and frequently changing in time and speed, while the inside remains obscured and discreet.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

What about the normal pace? What have our cities, norms, and behaviors influence our idea of a normal speed and a normal range of performed movements?

Heidegger distinguishes between two ways in which things can show up to a being that is active in the world: Dreyfus renders them as availableness and occurrentness. Consequently, if an activity flows smoothly, their objectness melts into the flow. (Ingrid,2011) Perhaps one of the lost ingredients to maintain a normal pace in our lives is the human scale that distinguishes this place and makes it so inviting and available. Walking anywhere is naturally performed rather than a potential choice. The openness gives choices and allows for chance encounters to happen. The coffee shop around the corner marks the intersection pathways with a warm and vibrant scene adjacent to outdoor pockets of social gatherings.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

Second, the groomed Gardens and courts in the midst of the surrounding buildings remind us of nature’s presence, yet the very flat perfectly trimmed green and blue courts are evidences of human control, which is a characteristic of most sports as well.

Third, the Protruding exposed staircases, overlooking the courts, that are quick escapes, provide a state of ‘readiness’ and seamless accessibility across the place.

Moreover, the proximity of the axial pathways and terraced sitting areas adjacent to the swimming pools, brings one closer to the water which as Charles Moore described, “water everywhere is connected symbolically and poetically with the rest of the water on earth representing life. It signifies life. It is part of an ecology that is infinite yet intimate”.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

FAST & FASTER: “To perceive the environment is not to look back on the things to be found in it, or to discern their congealed shapes and layouts, but to join with them in the material flows and movements contributing to their – and our – ongoing formation. (Ingrid, 2011)

The children’s garden has undergone many changes, it has always seemed so big and fictitious, a world of ours, a whole world that belonged to us; as children, adults in the middle, children running around and everywhere. In the past, the garden was more audacious, attracted elder

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

children, we moved in groups we pretended to be the ‘Power Rangers’ ...who knows what children now pretend to be, but I recall the sensuous experience of the place. .

Previously, Metal and sand were the theme of the place, it was messier, more ludic, and parents were not even part of the scene, now the plastic and the fabricated floor tiles changed the whole scenery. The fence encircling the children’s playgrounds was rarely recognized, only seemed massive at the corner as it is interrupted and inhabited by shops, WCs, secondary gates, and activities.

From stimulating clues that inform unpredicted movements and play, to visual cues that sharpen our focus and regulates our motion. Lines guide us to become faster regulated, move towards a specific goal while staying focused. The track lines and the rattling old long trees encircling the arena, make this entire ecology of movement call for joining this moving orbit.

Other controlled and perfectly designed ecologies like the volleyball, basketball courts shove everyday expectations aside and replace them with ambitious accurate movements put under the spotlight, surrounded by spectators charged with roaring cheers and hopes. Spectators are never far away from the players, the architectural spaces occupied by them are always of great proximity and intimate in scale, only leveled by a maximum height of 3 to 4 meters. Otherwise the openness of the place, points out the intensity of the activity and the excitement of the spectators from a distance.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

The club is the sort of place that ‘organizes and structures our experiences, beliefs and fantasies of the world, project distinct frames of perception and experience, and provide specific horizons of understanding and meaning’.

(Pallasmaa, 2009).

Movement and memories are what bring this place into being. The kinesthetic and haptic experiences and the intensities of speed endorsed are ever-changing. In those ecologies of movement, the architecture is subtle and movement is prevalent. It is an invitation to extend our skeletons and a reminder of how we are wired to move and dream.

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

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Architecture Criticism | Fall 2015

References

Ingold, T. (2011). Being alive: Essays on movement, knowledge and description. London: Routledge.

Lyndon, D., & Moore, C. (1994). Chambers for a Memory Palace. Cambridge, Mass. u.a.: Mass.

Inst. of Technology Press.

Pallasmaa, Juhani (2009) "Mental and Existential Ecology.� Sustainable School Buildings: From Concept to Reality.

Pallasmaa, Juhani. (2014) "Space, Place, and Atmosphere: Peripheral Perception in Existential Experience." On the Experience and Politics of Architecture Architectural Atmospheres.

Tenner, E. 2003. Our Own Devices: The Past and Future of Body Technology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

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