Umbau am Denkmal: POTENTIAL MONUMENTS OF UNREALISED FUTURES

During my Free Diploma at the ETH of Zurich I formulated my own theoretical approach towards Architectural transformations (Umbau am Denkmal), whether it is about preserving, restoring, reconstructing or totally remodelling existing and historically relevant buildings. Full thesis: https://polybox.ethz.ch/index.php/s/LffGzUhaVLqwoXN

I was looking here for an own way of thinking that goes beyond the usual interpretation of historical elements and the construction of history in general. It should allow us to combine different elements with various origins from the past, whether they were new or old, often using the old as a given natural backdrop. The result is mostly a complex composition that is distinctly modern in feel, while every element embodied something of the past. This reflects more the idea that there are possibilities of architecture, implying the temporality (Zeitlichkeit) of architecture and our own history. The idea of stratification and deformation, thus is not neglecting that every form and element has an inherent meaning and aura. Considering the concrete and the universal as identical, the new is a silent architecure that allows the observer to detect its own reading of the object. It challenges the normal way of perception and wants the observer to get involved in the creation of an individual interpretation of the object. Based on his non—linear interpretation of history and time, the architectural elements have different layers of meanings, so consequently also different layers of remembrance and memory. The nature of those layers thus is coming from something that has already existed in the past, but that has been given a new form through new combinations. It‘s an architecture that is kind of everlasting, progressive and goes beyond the here and now. Whereas most of the work nowadays is based on the directionality of the linear definition of time, I think that the project shows that no form is unique and that everything can be about repetition and eternal return at the same time. The architecture here is part of a more circular movement within a constant repetition of things, opposing the linear thinking of unchangeable objects. So integrated this eternal, universal approach into pre—existing historical structures, could be a new principle for architectural transformations and thus heritage preservation. Full thesis download link: https://polybox.ethz.ch/index.php/s/LffGzUhaVLqwoXN