HORCRUX THEORY: Immortality and Adaptive Reuse ARCHITECTURE AND THE SOUL In today’s day and age where a general conversation or thought process is about things such as Taylor Swift’s passive aggressive acceptance speech at the Grammy’s or where has Justin Bieber decided to get his new tattoo? The concept of “Soul” becomes too deep a topic to comprehend on an everyday basis, or so we think. It actually is something that keeps resurfacing everywhere we see. From Harry Potter that has sold more than 450 million copies to Eminem’s albums that sell close to 2 million copies per album, where the case has either been about the soul or giving it some soul. Some of the greatest minds in history have pondered about this notion of a soul. For centuries, the soul has only been associated with animate objects or beings. A concept that has constantly evolved over time along with its understanding. Brings us to the question of whether architecture has a soul? The Vitruvian man, one of Da Vinci’s famous works in ink where he draws what is considered the ideal human proportions based on the architectural orders proposed by Vitruvius. The golden ratio, another order that is based on harmony and proportion. Design over time has always been a consequence of this harmony and proportion which constitute the “order”. From the Greeks to Corbusier, this “order” has been considered as an integral part of design. Which almost serves as an omnipresent essence.
CONCEPT OF SOUL/ IMMORTALITY The concept of soul and immortality have constantly changed over time based on several aspects such as religion, philosophy, history. Even J.K Rowling had her own interpretation of the soul and immortality when she decided to introduce the concept of the Horcruxes. Here I have tried to explore two concepts, one of the Western faith and the other of the Easter faith. Most people are familiar with the western concept of “original sin “which brought about the “down fall of man” and how during early Christian and medieval times, indulgences were sold in return for purification of one’s soul. A concept of offering pieces of the soul by putting a price tag on it! Brings us to an eastern concept. In Hinduism which is considered the oldest religion in the world, people have believed that god shall reincarnate himself to come help the world when it faces jeopardy. Reincarnation is another age old concept which talks about splitting one’s soul into multiple pieces by taking the form of a new “host body”. It is interesting to see how these concepts can be tied to the current day understanding of adaptive reuse. I’m quite sure many of us have travelled to Boston or New York where we’ve stayed in one of those apartments or visited a quirky café that has remnants of what the building was before its current day scenario. For instance if you’ve visited the G pub downtown, the building still has the words “Providence Gas Company” on it. Things like that that keep alive a memory almost makes the concept of soul tangible.
Many great thinkers have argued and debated about the relationship between the tangible and in tangible Could it be that these concepts drive the fact that the “soul” can indeed be timeless by keeping the “essence” of something alive?
QUESTION OF CHANGE “Change is inevitable, change is the only constant”. Several events in history have stood testimony to this statement. Examples in history show how important a role adaptive reuse played in architectural development over time. Hagia Sofia. Having served as a church during the Byzantine era, after its downfall and new patronage from the Ottoman Empire that rose in power at the time, it served as a mosque. One could say that the purpose of being a holy place of worship was kept alive but just having taken a new suit. Today, the once religious institution serves as one of the most visited museums in the world that lives to share what went down as an integral part of history. Several examples have undergone such transformations owing to war, invasion, colonization and cultural growth. Just like when property being handed over to multiple owners is subject to change. OLD SOUL, NEW BODY The picture of Dorian Grey is a reinterpretation of the legend of Faust where one man sells his soul to attain immortality. Here, the soul of the person is transferred to an inanimate object which is the painting and as the years go by, it is the painting that become subject to change and decay. Drawing relevance to architecture, some examples are, The Cheraman Parambu which is considered the oldest mosque in India has undergone several changes in its physical form yet sealing its eternal purpose of serving as an Islamic place of worship. Recent renovation proposals include restoring the mosque back to its original authentic state of construction when the structure was erected. A case of old soul to new body and back to old; as in the case of Dorian Grey. Another example that touches on the concept of old soul being transferred to a new body is the synagogue at Dresden, Germany. After the bombing of the historic structure, a new structure erected at the same site has been designed in such a way that it pays homage to the historic relevance and purpose of its preexisting history. Like how Dorian’s soul was transferred onto the painting. These analogies have helped me conclude that whether it is retaining a host structure by inducing certain physical changes (selling one’s soul) or by introducing a new structure in place of the old (splitting of the soul to take a new form), there is one common morality maintained and that is to keep alive the essence of the host (immortality of soul). HORCRUX THEORY Which brings us back to Harry Potter and the Horcrux theory, lord Voldemort splits his soul into horcruxs to remain immortal. Extending this concept to architecture would be though adaptive reuse.
The Hedmark museum in Norway has been designed in a way that it displays the several layers of history of the site, from the time it was a Bishop’s castle in the 13 th century to a rich farmer’s barn in the 16th century to what it servers as today, A museum. Another example is the visitor’s center at the Pombal fort in Portugal. The design of the newer structures at the site not only are sensitive to the existing material and site context but at the same time distinguish the new from the old as a way of paying respect to the host site and the contrast of which actually helps heighten the historic importance of the site. Examples such as these serve as something that respect a memory! “Neither can live while either survives”. The boy who lived shall always be associated with “the one who shall not be named”. As Harry becomes a living monument of sort. A testimony to Voldemort’s life. I can’t help but to dwell on the fact that change is inevitable but I would like to conclude that may be architecture as something inanimate may not be considered to have a soul but to keep alive the essence and memory of something through essential positive change does give it a soul thus making it immortal !!