Losing Site: Architecture, Memory and Place

183 Pages·2011·1.54 MB·English

by  Shelley Hornstein

Losing Site
Architecture, Memory and Place
Shelley Hornstein
Losing Site
Ashgate Studies in Architecture Series
series editor: eamonn canniffe, manchester school of architecture,
manchester metropolitan university, uk
The discipline of Architecture is undergoing subtle transformation as design
awareness permeates our visually dominated culture. Technological change,
the search for sustainability and debates around the value of place and meaning
of the architectural gesture are aspects which will affect the cities we inhabit. This
series seeks to address such topics, both theoretically and in practice, through
the publication of high quality original research, written and visual.
Other titles in this series
The Political Unconscious of Architecture
Re-opening Jameson’s Narrative
Edited by Nadir Lahiji
ISBN 978 1 4094 2639 4
Architecture and Science-Fiction Film
Philip K. Dick and the Spectacle of Home
David T. Fortin
ISBN 978 1 4094 0748 5
Symbolic Houses in Judaism
How Objects and Metaphors Construct Hybrid Places of Belonging
Mimi Levy Lipis
ISBN 978 1 4094 2104 7
Forthcoming titles in this series
French Encounters with the American Counterculture 1960–1980
Caroline Maniaque-Benton
ISBN 978 1 4094 2386 7
An Architecture of Ineloquence
A Carmelite Convent by José Luis Sert
J.K. Birksted
ISBN 978 0 7546 7801 4
Losing Site
Architecture, Memory and Place
Shelley Hornstein
© Shelley Hornstein 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Shelley Hornstein has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court East Suite 420
Union Road 101 Cherry Street
Farnham Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Surrey GU9 7PT USA
England
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Hornstein, Shelley.
Losing site : architecture, memory and place. – (Ashgate studies in architecture)
1. Architecture–Psychological aspects. 2. Architecture and history. 3. Architecture and
society. 4. Memorialization.
I. Title II. Series
720.1’9-dc22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hornstein, Shelley.
Losing site : architecture, memory, and place / by Shelley Hornstein.
p. cm. – (Ashgate studies in architecture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-0871-0 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-1-4094-0872-7 (ebook)
1. Place (Philosophy) in architecture. 2. Memory–Social aspects. I. Title. II. Title:
Architecture, memory, and place.
NA2500.H67 2011
720.1–dc22
2011005821
ISBN 9781409408710 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409408727 (ebk)
II
Printed and bound in Great Britain by the
MPG Books Group, UK
For Ariel, Elias, Lara and Sam
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Contents
List of Figures   ix
Preface   xi
Introduction   1
1 MarkingSite:WalterBenjaminwasHere   15
2 MemorializingSite:OntheGroundsofHistory   25
3 TransportingSites:Israel,PostcardsandNation-Building 61
4 DestroyedSites:PlacesandThingsInsideOut   81
5 CuratingSite:Museums,ItinerariesandNetworksBeyondBorders 103
6 ErasingSites:SpiesontheOtherSideoftheFullMoon   117
7 FindingSite   127
Bibliography   151
Index 163
This page has been left blank intentionally
List of Figures
1.1 Dani Karavan, Passages, 1994, Portbou. Credit: Shelley Hornstein. 16
2.1 Georges Pingusson, Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation,
1962, Paris. Credit: Simon Texier. 27
2.2 Georges Pingusson, Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation,
1962, Paris. Credit: Simon Texier. 30
2.3 Daniel Libeskind, Jewish Museum, 2001, Berlin. Credit: Axel Lapp.
2.4 Peter Eisenman, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe,
2005, Berlin. Credit: Axel Lapp. 46
2.5 Peter Eisenman, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe,
2005, Berlin. Credit: Axel Lapp. 46
2.6 Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen, Monument to Homosexual
Holocaust Victims, 2008, Berlin. Credit: Axel Lapp. 53
3.1 Capernaum (Ruins of an old synagogue), n.d. Credit: Palphot Ltd. 65
3.2 Jacob Benor-Kalter, Tel-Aviv, On the Seaside, n.d. Credit: Jacob
Benor-Kalter for Palphot Ltd. 67
4.1 Rachel Whiteread, House, 1993 (demolished 1994), London.
Credit: Commissioned and produced by Artangel. Photograph:
John Davies. 85
4.2 Iris Häussler, He Named Her Amber, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2008–
2010, Toronto. Credit: Iris Häussler. 93
4.3 Iris Häussler, Honest Threads, Honest Ed’s, 2009, Toronto. Credit:
Isaac Applebaum. 95
5.1 Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, 1997 (photo 2005),
Bilbao, Spain. Credit: Lara Rabinovitch. 104
5.2 Edouard Denis Baldus, Cour Napoleon, Chantier du nouveau
Louvre, Paris Musée Carnavalet, c. 1855. Credit: © Baldus/
Rogier-Viollet/The Image Works. 111
6.1 Nina Levitt, Installation view: Quonset Hut (for Vera Atkins),
Koffler Gallery, 2008, Toronto. Credit: Isaac Applebaum. 119
6.2 Nina Levitt, Installation view: Parachute (for Hannah Senesh),
Koffler Gallery, 2008, Toronto. Credit: Isaac Applebaum. 121
7.1 Kristina Rostorotsky, The Man Who Swam into History, 2008.
Credit: Design by Kristina Rostorotsky. 129