This project is a library and cenotaph memorial on the difficult site of the Bebelplatz in Berlin, the location of one of the most significant book burnings in Nazi Germany. The process required a depth of theoretical and formal exploration including understanding the complex relationship between remembering and forgetting as two sides of the same thing, as inseparable doppelgangers.
Agar cast early in growth process
Various concrete cast study models including some using CNC molds (outer two) and laser cut molds (middle three)
Agar cast late in growth process
I became specifically drawn to ideas of censorship and silencing which led me to the disturbing form of the tongue. Through my research on the grotesque, I became fascinated with the qualities of humor which can be used to untangle atrocious pasts. The use of the tongue also led me to question the relationship between container and contained: what is it that makes a tongue so disturbing, the lack of a mouth to hold it? the texture itself? And what does it mean to have an empty tongue, or one filled with books? If a tongue is not in a mouth but contained in another object, how does it change? I took over the Humboldt-University Law library next to the site with these multiple severed tongues to explore the relationship between container and contained and the violence of both remembering and forgetting.
Process concept collage
Explorations of container and contained using tongue, mouth, and final design elements
These explorations of container and contained developed into a programmatic and formal arrangement dependent upon sequence through the site. The almost un-contained tongue serves to dislocate the visitor from the original entrance (now non-entrance) to the new asymmetrical entrance, reorienting the visitor to the site. Partially contained tongues become threshold spaces and semi-private program. Finally, the most “sacred” program of the library and the cenotaph are in fully contained containers.
Final programmatic distribution
Plan drawings
The casting process also has a similar theoretical relationship to the project. The cast object retains a memory of the mold, its texture and detailing and sometimes even actual pieces of the mold which are too embedded to safely remove. Through casting, we also worked with the idea of the living versus the dead with heavy concrete casts and agar growth medium casts planted with alfalfa. Because of the quick repeat-ability of the casting process, I was able to test various different methods of mold production (CNC milling and laser cutting) as well as various additives, including glass, charcoal, and hot glue, and finally a gloss finish.
Early formal studies in stacked cardboard
Early formal studies in stacked cardboard
A locker full of cast tongues
Empty mold layers post model removal
Tongues emerge from the mold layer by layer
Finished cast of study model
Finished cast of study model
Image transfers were integral to the design process both theoretically and formally. Specifically, the idea that reality leaves traces, but also blank spaces was essential, and rendering through acetone transfer embodies this fuzziness of memory and loss. By image transferring in multiple layers on mylar sheets mounted to grey board, I produced an even fuzzier but still clear reading of the image. Then, returning to detail with ink and charcoal, I could emphasize or disguise different aspects of the image. The middle image is the digital collage used to produce the two different image transfers above and below during the experimentation process.
Process image transfer
Digital collage for image transfer
Process image transfer
Digital collage for image transfer
