Making Memory Space: Recollection and Reconciliation in Post ...

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Ultimately through an examination of the treatment of memory space in South Africa, issues around the complexity of dealing with memory in general become apparent. The aim of this thesis is to draw out some of these narratives so that they may elucidate some of the broader relationships between architecture and collective memory. 2
PREFACE During my recent travels, I was struck by the constant state of change that characterises the political landscape and the impact of this on the remnant, reeling society – socially, politically and most importantly to me, spatially. Inherent in this state of change as witnessed in many of the cities that I visited – (particularly western and central Europe, India and Southern Africa) are spatial markers that remain resident in cities long after events have turned from being current to the nebulous place of memory. These spatial markers – what they are, how they are treated and how they are created - became an area of fascination for me. They articulate the memorialising impulse of architecture at its most deliberate and also at its most random and highlight the extent to which the desire to record, retain and acknowledge aspects of the past, in a spatial and visceral manner permeates so many societies. This static, grounded and monumental manifestation of events of the past allows the irregular, impermanent and fluid state of memory a physical state, marking it constant and unchanging. How does architecture, as seemingly static, convey meaning over time to a variety of audiences? How is this meaning attributed? How is it inscribed onto or into space and how is it eradicated from social constructions of space? What are the primary forces that operate on it? I became particularly interested in officially sanctioned spaces, which celebrate the past, primarily museums and memorials, which I have come to think of in terms of their ability to facilitate or construct memory. The distinction between official narratives of ‘memory space’ and arbitrary remnants of memory space has emerged largely because of the extremely personal nature of space and the extent to which spontaneous memory is borne out of uniquely personal connection with all spaces. While private recollections are harder to appreciate, public memory space is intended to stand in as a surrogate for private recollections and to reveal or reflect the official and ‘true’ version of the past. Our contemporary world has witnessed a great deal of change and technological advancement that has led to fluidity of information exchange in a radical and dynamic fashion. Inherent in this phenomenological state is the compression of time that exacerbates both the intensity of events and the closeness with which we experience and understand them. Extreme political upheavals become internationalised as well as personalised through the nature of this experience. The memorialising impulse of architecture, which has existed since the notion of the primitive hut, has emerged with greater ferocity in this time of flux, a counter to the fluid changeable nature of contemporary space and society while offering some permanence and stability to our sense of who we are, what we are and where we belong in the world. Yet while the impulse itself has remained largely unaltered over time, the nature of its expression has changed as questions have emerged over the appropriate ways to make manifest that impulse. How can memory be dealt with in world of palimpsests and political upheaval? Where might we place ourselves relative to that desire to recollect the past and how might architecture be used to facilitate greater meaning in different social and political contexts? 3
Page 1 and 2: Making Memory Space: Recollection a
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr Hélène Frichot
Page 5: ABSTRACT Post Apartheid South Afric
Page 9 and 10: spaces that are intended to facilit
Page 11 and 12: as the house of British multiple mu
Page 13 and 14: past and then resituate it in the m
Page 15 and 16: significance of site and built form
Page 17 and 18: 1. MEMORY AND SPACE Post Apartheid
Page 19 and 20: dominant narrative, and collective
Page 21 and 22: sometimes be radical change. Archit
Page 23 and 24: only able to visit museums at desig
Page 25 and 26: South Africa, and establishes a mod
Page 27 and 28: the intangible concept of cultural
Page 29 and 30: display, contributes to the product
Page 31 and 32: As discussed previously, ownership
Page 33 and 34: considered an exemplar of social at
Page 35 and 36: nationalism in an official way. The
Page 37 and 38: 2. TOPPLING TOTEMS: The Voortrekker
Page 39 and 40: epetition of monuments or ideas - a
Page 41 and 42: In a political climate clamouring f
Page 43 and 44: Afrikaners. The narrative of stoici
Page 45 and 46: As an expression of the civilising
Page 47 and 48: espect, the memory space and the la
Page 49 and 50: heightened by its separation. Secon
Page 51 and 52: gain meaning and visibility within
Page 53 and 54: they are not in a position to contr
Page 55 and 56: past long before the Nationalist Go
Page 57 and 58:
The African voice has been silenced
Page 59 and 60:
accurate account of the past due to
Page 61 and 62:
content to portray a definitive ver
Page 63 and 64:
moving past a replica of the cemete
Page 65 and 66:
the experiential model as an instig
Page 67 and 68:
aggrandising force can determine th
Page 69 and 70:
Throughout the museum, the visitor
Page 71 and 72:
whereby the current political major
Page 73 and 74:
In contrast, Georgi Verbeek suggest
Page 75 and 76:
Giles Deleuze counters this positio
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such as Robben Island Museum where
Page 79 and 80:
Summary In summary, the Apartheid M
Page 81 and 82:
4. PRESERVATION & RECONSTRUCTION: T
Page 83 and 84:
aspirations for the future of South
Page 85 and 86:
which occur at sites of trauma, off
Page 87 and 88:
has the potential to reiterate alre
Page 89 and 90:
individual vision of the present an
Page 91 and 92:
Addressing the past - the democrati
Page 93 and 94:
the new political regime. The resul
Page 95 and 96:
and inclusivity as a counter to the
Page 97 and 98:
through the integration of cutting
Page 99 and 100:
einforcer of the language of war th
Page 101 and 102:
5. COMMUNITY CONCEPTS: The Red Loca
Page 103 and 104:
originally conceived as part of a t
Page 105 and 106:
geographical focus, it acknowledges
Page 107 and 108:
of South Africa’s population, as
Page 109 and 110:
which the notion of ‘authenticity
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uilding does not become a static, o
Page 113 and 114:
their own homes) and elegantly deta
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Memory in this context is also empl
Page 117 and 118:
acknowledge and celebrate the histo
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disregard for African modes of prod
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CONCLUSION Whenever we are trying t
Page 123 and 124:
attempting to place memory at the f
Page 125 and 126:
All of these methodologies are base
Page 127 and 128:
concrete, wire and steel to articul
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Benedict. Im
Page 131 and 132:
Deegan, Heather. The Politics of th
Page 133 and 134:
Huyssen, Andreas. Present Pasts: Ur
Page 135 and 136:
McEachern, Charmaine. Narratives of
Page 137 and 138:
Simpson, Moira G. Making Representa
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