Narrative and the Substance of Architectural Spaces: The Design of Memorial Architecture as an Example

The causality between function and architectural form was an orthodox factor in the process of architectural design, as well as a determinant for the discourse of spatial content in functionalist architecture, yet, by the 1950s, this doctrine of modern architecture was challenged by a changing social context. In the discussion of the relation between the formal elaboration of spaces and the setting of programmes, Bernard Tschumi explores the constant interaction and correlation between the formal construction of spaces and the complex activities and events that take place within them. On that account, the paper argues that the creation of architectural spaces and meaning may not necessarily rely on causal relations with function or conventional programme. In terms of the design of memorial architecture, it is essential to re-examine what spatial content can be and how this content can be generated, or what thing can be thought of as the substance of the architecture. Because narrative is related to events or stories that have happened or have been happening in cities and in our everyday lives, it can be suggested that the construction of narrative in architecture may stem from people’s collective memories of historical events, events in an urban context and urban experiences, from which the content of architectural projects or spatial implications can be generated. The paper will thus explore the sources of spatial narratives as well as the means of introducing and transforming narratives into architecture through the study of some select memorials, Daniel Libeskind’s Berlin Jewish Museum and the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, for example. In the former museum, the architect intends to convey the history and memory of Jewish people and the Holocaust mainly through architectural compositions and their spatial languages. It is thus important to discuss the relationship between the construction of spatial narrative and the substance of architectural spaces. As narrative is an abstract composition of past events or images of related places, the paper will finally discuss how narratives or memories can be represented through spatial languages and representational media, and what the limit of the visitor’s spatial interpretation of the related narratives will be.