The Politics of Memory; Authenticity and the Artifice

Thomas Cole / 2009

Architectural History
Europe

This is a study of contemporary architectural projects within historic contexts, framed by the concept of memory. The report examines a series of contemporary European architectural projects specifically addressing the way in which their construction affords interpretation and the process in which it affects perception.

The report is divided into three sections; the first examines a series of projects in direct dialogue with historic contexts, the second explores context, offering an insight into the shifting definitions of ‘authentic’ and the ‘artifice’. The final section examines the idea of performance and re-enactment as a mode of memorialization to question whether it has the capacity to provide shared authorship and sustained collective memory. The study is the result of a fourteen week tour across six European countries.

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