Objects and Architecture Flashcards
Which Objects
Authentic Objects Unique Objects Beautiful Objects Explanatory Objects Contextual Objects
Objects that represent Loss
Tombs- commemorate absent person
Memorials associated ceremonies- rehearsal of public memory
Objects- with memories attached
Authentic items- silent witnesses- Milk Churn
Photographs- absence of living people- Tower of Faces
Ashes- Memorial de la Shoah
Lists of names- stone walls of Memorial de la Shoah
Personal items- mini histories
Shocking objects- Grinding machine, cattle truck
Index Cards- focus on individual
Shoes- discarded, dead like Jewish lives
Empty shoes on Danube- missing people, range of identities associated with shoes
Stone carpet/ stone pile- traditional Jewish custom to leave stone for the dead in witness- pile
Fundamental prompts for collective memory
Objects that Provide Context/ Storytelling
Authentic objects mixed with reconstructions
Attempt to provide context/ tell a story
Emotional engagement to support message of objects
Different objects reinforce each other
Meaning provided in presentation
Display triggers emotional and physical feelings
Reconstructions act as stage props
Put visitor into shoes of victim
Eg Gates of Auschwitz, large scale photographic backdrops, reconstructed Warsaw Ghetto wall
Traditional storytelling methods- photographs, film, documents (index cards etc)
Use of Architecture to Convey Message
Create sense of disturbance Feeling of being cut off from normal society Losing sense of identity Anxiety- inducing Intimidation Shared experience of victims Destabilising Disorientation Physically challenging
Architectural Techniques Used
Zigzagging concrete labrynth
Harsh/ brutal concrete
Use of intimidating scale
Imposing towers like guard towers
Interconnecting buildings- bridges and tunnels
Use of Voids- emptiness and loss
Vertical spaces between main gallery spaces
Visceral techniques- cattle truck
Leaning piers in garden, vegetation out of reach
Sharp inclines
Sloping floors, leaning walls, choice of paths/ axes
Jagged lines of windows
Dark, grim, enclosed tower- thin opening for light and air
Four- storey staircase
