Spect/Mediator

A circular gallery that evokes visitors’ introspection of the demolition and construction of the old town

Time: 2015
Tsinghua Architecture Studio

In the Society of the Spectacle of Guy Debord (1967), he asserted that “In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles”. During the process of socialization (Solitude – Social Group – Local Society), humans gradually become spectators of all the images that society produces. True peacefulness can only be found in a space like the ancient caves, a place with the least trace of human production.

The goal of the design is to review the process from humans as spectators to meditators. Considering the site location, it becomes a circular gallery that evokes visitors’ introspection of the demolition and construction of the old town.

The mass construction and sprawl of metropolitan makes people fanatical but alienated from sober introspection. As social animals, humans are in constant contact with each other and thus influenced by each other. In such chaos, meditation can be found only when left alone.

Architects choose what to project based on our judgement, and make it into reality for people to experience. To manifest the double role of human beings (spectators and meditators), visitors spiral inwards from Local Society (City) to Individual (Solitude).

The first layer decides the image it presents to the city. Faced with a dynamic and unstable urban environment, the first layer works as an interactive screen that arouses people’s introspection of the construction in historical areas. After the deconstruction, memories can only be found in images.

The second layer is a gallery collecting old photos and objects. The circular form allows visitors to stroll. Buildings and courtyards are interweaved.