QUESTION 3

Spaces 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 effected if this space was torn down? Show example of spaces and the real memory and emotion tied to it.

The space which evokes in my memory is the hotel room of Prana Resort Nandana in Koh Samui. I had my holiday in Koh Samui during last semester break. One of the most memorable things I had is to stay in their resort. The room in the resort is so comfortable that I wish I could stay there for my whole life. Yes, I agreed that the memory had created a relationship between me and the architecture. This is because I can understand the local culture clearly through the design of their hotel room (Thai architecture). I learned to know more about architecture in Thailand from their hotel design. Besides that, the spaces in the hotel room is well planned to fulfill the requirement of the hotel guests. From this, I learned to know the spaces design and requirement for a hotel guest to stay within a comfortable hotel room.

Exterior view of Prana Resort Nandana.

The view I took in the hotel room.

The view from the hotel room.

I will feel upset if this space was torn down because I have no opportunity to visit that resort anymore. In the other hand, I will appreciate the experience too because it is a memorable event in my life before the space is torn down.

One of the examples of a space with a real memory and emotion which tied to it is Jewish Museum Berlin. Jewish Museum Berlin is to exhibits the social, political and cultural history of the Jews and German from the 4th century to the present. The museum explicitly presents and integrates for the first time in postwar Germany, the repercussions of the Holocaust. The museum was designed by Daniel Libeskind.

Jewish Museum Berlin.

Daniel Libeskind wants to express the war between the Jews and German citizen. The German had filled a lot of Jews during the war. Libeskind himself as a Jews he understands the fear and how hatred between the Jews and German was.

For Libeskind, “The new design, which was created a year before the Berlin Wall came down was based on three conception that formed the museum’s foundation: first, the impossibility of understanding the history of Berlin without understanding the enormous intellectual, economic and cultural contribution made by the Jewish citizens of Berlin, second, the necessity to integrate physically and spiritually the meaning of the Holocaust into the consciousness and memory of the city of Berlin. Third, that only through the acknowledgement and incorporation of this erasure and void of Jewish life in Berlin, can the history of Berlin and Europe have a human future.”

The irregular matrix of windows cut in different orientations across the building’s facade is to represent the scars of the Jews.

Another unique of this museum is the memory void. This void is filled with “faces”. People can walk over the “faces” and the metal sheet will produce a sound that sound like crying and sobbing of the victims (screaming of Jews).

“Only through acknowledgment of the erasure and void of Jewish life can the history of Berlin and Europe have a human future.”

– Daniel Libeskind