Project Brief

Architectural precedents in the past two centuries have designed uncanny architectural qualities using various techniques. Entienne-Louis Bouillee’s illustration of the cenotaph is an example of scale; its sheer size, hollow interior, and intense height, are qualities that demand awe from the viewer.

Anthony Vidler’s Architectural Uncanny, describes the classical use of anthropormophic forms in Renaissance architecture. Classical architecture like Giorgio Vasari’s Italian grotto (cave), built in the 16th Century and located in the Boboli Gardens, is another example of an architectural aesthetic; its sculpted figures and uncanny level of detail envelopes a person’s confined gaze. The panoramic scenery of the Italian countryside communicates familiarization through a narrative, yet de-familiarized through sculpted forms. The aesthetic quality of sculpting, seen in the highly detailed figures of trees and people, evokes a sense of uneasiness.

An act of procession is no better experienced than the Igualada Cemetery. Built by Enric Mirailles and Carme Pinos, and located in Spain, the site invigorates personal memory. The context of death and sacrifice is made apparent by scattered planks and recessed coffins in the walls of the entire complex. All three projects are uncanny, architectural works of art. Together, they represent techniques necessary to create an uncanny architecture through scale, form, and procession.

The Eidolon Mausoleum, located on Hashima Island, intends to explore the concept of the uncanny through acts of de-familiarization. The techniques used will include folding, digging, sculpting, photography, and most importantly, camouflage, as means of disrupting the island’s battleship-like silhouette. Its original infrastructure, represented by abandoned residential buildings and prison, will be renovated and modified to suit the needs of the program. Buried underneath lies multiple levels configured from the original prison. They will be used to emphasize procession as a type of qualitative experience. A visitor is meant to experience the abyssal qualities of the site, as if descending into hell.