Sketch in the Museum of Memory
The Museum of Memory was an experience that moved me tremendously.
It started with the open stair case. Wasn’t that an incredible way to start the viewers off? The stairs behind then though were what got me, because to me, they represented the people who couldn’t leave the country and had to watch their friends and family leave them.
I thought the layout of the museum as a whole was done very well too. In a lot of museums, there is a big chance that you miss information because the hallways to and from places are all similar. Here, it’s just on recangle with one piece of circulation on the side. It’s hard to miss displays, which is good for such an informative museum as this one.
The glass box that created a space for reflection was very special. Separated from the hallway by a sign lair square column, it made us look at the faces of those who were lost to history. An interesting thing that I noticed was that the crystal lights that illuminated the inside perimeter of the box flecked in the glas walls, making it look like the lights continue in space and touch the photo wall. Your own reflection was in the glass too, making it look like you were with the ones on the wall. I think that moment of reflection alludes to how if you don’t teach people about history, it is bound to repeat itself. The glass box makes you wonder, as it put you up on the wall, if history reap eats itself, will it be me this time who suffers?
All in all, I highly recommend this museum.
Kate I love your note on the box’s reflection! This was one of the most impactful museums I’ve visited as well. I think a lot of it came from the shock of learning of such a recent horror I knew nothing about, and the architectural choices like the box reinforce that journey of realization.
I was equally relieved by the simple program of the perimeter and core of the box. It made following the timeline of events straightforward, and the different phases of the tragic period broke between rooms nicely. One question I have is what do you think about the axis of the space? I was somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t reinforced more within the space. I feel that axes are so ripe with meaning and suggestion of a future, and the bar shape of the building promises that sort of metaphor. I wish there had been more of a negotiation between the strong axis of the frame and the winding, circular path you walk around within. What do you think?
Kate, I really appreciate your insight into the museum. Your words push past just a general description of your day and really analyze the architecture and experiences created by the spaces we went to. I definitely agree with what you said about the glass box being the most introspective part of the museum. While I only walked passed the entrance where you can sit inside the box, I found a pathway that took me up to the top of the glass box. There, I was not inside of the glass box, but rather above it, and felt as though I was looking out into the voided space of the museum. To me, I felt as if this space represented the voids left in the families of the victims of the 1973 crisis. This realization was very insightful and I appreciated the opportunity to take a moment from the hustle of the city to just stop and think about where the people of this country and culture have come from.
I would also agree that the circulation was kind of static and didn’t really create an experiential pathway through the museum. It was loosely organized to the point where everything was accessible, but I never really knew which direction to go so I ended up wandering between spots, probably messing with the intended chronology of the layout. All in all it was a great space, but I agree that the circulation of the interior could have been slightly improved.
This museum struck many chords with me as well. The circulation and the architectural magnificance of the space truly arranges the information so that no corner is left alone. It was intense. It was a lot more intense than I could’ve imagined. It wasn’t like the Holocaust museum where the event feels so distant; this museum’s theme was very present and very felt. While we analyzed and sketched, many of the people within the museum where Chileans looking up towards their past. Some clenched their mouths, other were explaining to their child the happenings that once were everyday events in their modernized city. The space echoed with the voices of those who protested and those who may have been lost. I agree, it was a place of self reflection and most importantly, a space of learning. It is incredibly difficult to face a past that is so recent within Chilean lives but it is also a platform to tell a very important piece of history. I don’t know what the museum may be taken as in ten, twenty years but right now the Museum of Memory is haunting, present, and welcoming for those willing to learn.