Mnemonic Tower
Blurring comes in many forms. Visual blurring is something we observe every day in frosted glass, caustic windows, and foggy mornings. Spatial blurring exists all around us, whether it is intersecting paths, or invisible barriers that separate us from a visually accessible space, there are things that blur our definition of where a space begins and ends. Experiential blurring is an effect on memory, the feeling of time blurring together as we move through it, our experiences from childhood weaving together with new experiences that continue to define us. The “blurry tower” aims to capture the experiential, visual, and spatial nature of blurring while providing a space for people to gather and children to learn in an urban environment.
The Site for this project is the Starr King Open Space which is an undeveloped greenspace on potrero hill. With Starr King elementary school being right across the street, the main function of the building is as a learning center for urban farming, this includes; spaces to grow plants, teacher housing, and rest areas for students and teachers from the nearby school.
The Secondary function of the tower is as a community garden. This is accessed from De Haro Street and provides an walking garden that connects to the existing trails within the open space. The walking garden has its own planting spots where people from the community can grow flowers, plants, and even trees. The overlapping levels of the community garden and educational space create interesting views as people move through the building.
Site
1215 Carolina St.
San Francisco CA.
Potrero Hill
Seedling | New space is formed within the structure.
Sapling | Space changes and surprise people as they return to it.
Tree | At some point space becomes a part of the structure that is recognized and returned to.
As time passes the spaces within the structure blur to a version of their former selves. Some things, like paint, deteriorate and become a shadow of their former self. Shiny things fade. But some things also blossom. New areas arise as trees and plants grow and what was once a dull sterile space is suddenly vibrant and alive. As time passes how we see a space is blurred
Childhood| Educational space is experienced by children as a learning environment.
Adolescence | Skills learned are put into practice as they return to the site and build more memories.
Adulthood | Memories are passed to young people who replace them in the circle, blurring the experience.
On the human scale memories are blurred within the structure as we pass through life. The way we interact with the different facilites changes as we grow older and return. What was once teaching us is taught by us in our own way, blurring our human experience.
Morning | Energy and experiences are directed towards the center of the structure as people begin their days.
Noon | The inner part of the structure is experienced as people make use of the program
Night | Experiences move towards the edges of the structure as energy and life flows out.
Even on a day to day basis experiences within the tower blur together. How we enter in the morning is not the same as how we leave at night. As we leave at the end of the day we are encumbered with experiences from within the tower, so the spaces we pass through on the way out are not the same ones we passed on the way in. But at the end of the day all of those experiences are blurred together into one memory of the day.
