Space and Memories are Inseparable
Q3: Space and memory are inseparable. What kind of spaces evoke memory in you? And do these memories create a relationship between you and the architecture? How would you be affected if this space was torn down? Show example of spaces and the real memory and emotion tied to it.
Inside a space you will have memories, good or bad, sad or happy. Space and memory are inseparable because with that space, it calls something back to you, things you have forgotten or left behind through time.
Once, I went to Bangsar to walk around the residential area with some of my friends. We were to look at the architecture of the houses in that area as some of the houses was listed as one of those beautiful houses in Kuala Lumpur. For example, L45, 23 Terrace and Sekeping Tenggiri. We were having fun around the residential area to see something quite different for us to see in daily life surrounding us. So to make things more interesting, we decided that each of us, choose a house design that we like the most.
We saw lots of unique designs, we visited L45. It’s nice, I do admit. But somehow, I left nothing on to it or with other nice houses on the list. To me, the L45 was too concrete, too cold. Turning into a a back alley, I found a small house. I peeked into the house and I fall in love with it instantly. It is like an old house interior design around the late 80s. Brown and old large in-built book shelves in the living room and mezzanine timber floor above the bookshelves, yellowish lightbulbs casting light and shadow onto the books.
I went to the front entrance of the house to have more looks on it and met the owner of the house. The house owner was nice to let us in and I saw this outdoor meeting space he designed with his business partner with plants growing on to the wire mesh as the roof shading. He said he and his wife are Philippines working here and they worked hard for years to own a house of their own and decided to decorate it the way they like. I guess this is the space I like, the space I will appreciate. A place that can let people call “Home”.
Buildings are all the same, the same elements: foundation, beam, columns, floors, roof and openings. But what makes it different is the design, the feelings you want to tell people or make people feel when they are inside of that space. This is where architecture comes in. It bonds people and the architecture together when the space you created creates memories of people. It doesn’t have to be fancy or modern or bombastic on the form. It is how you make people feel in that building.
Memories make up a huge part of our lives. I moved a lot during my teenage life, but I always remember the house I grow up in. I lived in that house since I was born till I was 12 years old. I remember when I moved, I told myself: one day when I grow up, I will buy this house back. Sadly, it was then sold to other people and they renovated it. It wasn't torn down, but to me, it is just gone, all gone. The feeling of sadness was indescribable. This semester, we are working on this Leprosy settlement in Sungai Buloh and it recalls of my memories towards my old house to see houses of old people lived their whole life in was torn down. It begin with anger, injustice and fear. Then, what left is just sadness for unable to save their home.
A house is a house. It will be just a building to you if you have no memories attached to it. If you do, it will become a space you treasure, a place you would want to stay longer in there, a time travel machine. You loses people you love as time passed, separated by death or misunderstanding or distance. I guess building will be the last place to store memories or to tell you stories that it lived through. Therefore, architects hold huge responsibilities. Not just the professional skills but also on how to create a space that bond with the people that comes to it or even just pass-byer.
Kevin Low on L45
In this video, Kevin Low critics on L45 not only on the site and also the function of the library.
23 Terrace
Unique design of the house and smart solution on the second floor balcony walls. It seperate the house with the neighbours and stands out from the other not only from the facade design but also the feelings of it. It give a more modern and cool feelings.
Sekeping Tenggiri
A Run-away resort for citi people. It uses alot of plants around the house and create a division space from the outer world.
Documentary on Sungai Buloh Leprosy Settlement
This video records the stories of the settlement and also the old people living in the settlement. Tears on the eyes telling the hardships of seeing their house torn down and force to moved to other houses. :'(
Sometimes it not just how great your building form would be but the space that you want to present to people and what people would felt in your building. :)
