Aldo Rossi emphasizes, “The city grows upon itself; it acquires a consciousness and memory” where it forms urban artifacts which “are a part of the city that cannot be suppressed because they constitute it” (Rossi, 1966). I resonate with this because the idea of memory has been explored in many disciplines and projects and every time it is again proven to be an important element to timelessness. How to live a meaningful life is often correlated to leaving a legacy, or long lasting memories in the minds of many. Rossi also correlates urban artifacts to art. A common saying in the creative art is to “make me feel something” which is another way of saying to leave a lasting impression, thus forming an accumulated history of memories around it. Rossi applying this to architecture reminds me of Jane Jacob’s idea of imageability. Jacobs focuses on how to make something leave a lasting memory while Rossi examines the accumulation of those memories.
The idea of altering urban artifacts and “contemplate[ing] the values that remain [and the] spiritual values” (Rossi, 1966) is also one I find interesting. In Avatar the Last Airbender, Aang returns to one of his people’s historical temples, 100 years after the genocide of his people. During that time, a new group of people moved in, demolishing sacred spaces, and penetrating machinery through historical artworks. At first, Aang was appalled at the disregard, vandalism, and destruction of his traditionally sacred spaces. After seeing how the new residence still had the free spirits of those of his ancestors, and treasured the temple in their own way, he appreciated the new possibilities of continuing the temple’s memories. While at first many, including me, would think it is best to have a historical building, especially a sacred one, live on through untouched preservation, that episode makes me change my stance. Use is the most effective way for memories to prevail which Rossi addressed with the “ambiguity of language” where to truly understand a place, one must have been there.
Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City. The MIT Press, 1966.
Avatar the Last Airbender. “The Northern Air Temple.” 17. Directed by James Cameron. Written by Aaron Ehasz. Nickelodeon, February 21, 2005.