Architectural Reenactment:investigating architecture’s supporting roles

Ross C. Hoekstra

“Souvenirsaremuchmorethanrepresentationsofthepast.Theyareboth documentandproposal,memoriesthatallowustoglimpsethefuture.Souvenirs, asWren,Hawksmoor,Vanbrugh,andVriesendorpmightargue,actliketotems ofsomethingyettocome.Theyremindusnotofwhathashappened,butwhat might,notofplacesthatyouhavebeento,butplacesnotyetinvented.Inthe actofrecordingthepast,souvenirsshowthatversionsofthepastcanbe manufactured.”

-SamJacob

background: EveryyearonMemorialDayWeekend,HenryFord’sGreenfieldVillageplayshosttoCivilWarreenactorswhosetupcampsandparadeacrossthegrounds.Whilethereenactorsarenodifferent fromthoseonewould findatGettysburgoranyotherCivilWarbattlefield,thereenactmentatGreenfieldVillageisuniquebecause,strictlyspeaking,thefestivitiesdonotconstituteareenactment.TherewerenoCivilWarbattlesfoughtinMichigan,norwerethere anypitchedcamps.The reenactorsmarch in formationwhile visitors in shorts takephotographs,breakinginandoutofcharacter,pausingtosmileandfaceaparticularcamera.Thefestivitiestakeplaceinavillagethatisnotanactualvillage,havingbeenassembledfrombuildingsacrossthecountry,suchasHenryFord’schildhoodhome,NoahWebster’shome,theWright brothers’ bicycle shop, and Thomas Edison’s laboratory. The result is pretendsoldiersrecreatingabattlethatneverhappenedinalocationthathasbeenassembledfromarbitrarypartsofhistory.WhileGreenfieldVillagehasoftenbeencriticizedforplayingfastandloosewithhistory,andjustifiablyso,suchacritiquemissesthepoint.Reenactmentislessinterestedinhistoricalfactthanitisintheater,performance,narrative,andheritage.

Inasimilarway,thebuildingsassembledatlivinghistorysiteslikeGreenfieldVillageoftenescapearchitecturalattentionbecausetheyareemptyvessels.NooneactuallyworksinThomasEdison’slaboratory,anditsspatialidentityhasbeenreducedtoaflaticonofitself.These buildings at Greenfield Village, all ofwhich have been physicallymoved from theiroriginal locationand reassembled intoaversionof fantasyAmericana,aresimultaneouslystageset,monument,attraction,andcuratorialmanifesto.Theyarearchitecturalreenactorsportrayingarchitecture.

This practice of memorializing architecture through reenactment employed atGreenfield Village has several precedents in Scandinavia. In 1891, Artur Hazelius createdSkansen, the first permanent exhibition of buildings and folklore, which was devoted toSwedishpastorallifethatwasbeingthreatenedbytheonsetofthemodernindustrialization.Hazeliushandpickedover150buildingsfromalloverthecountryanddesignedavillagetohousethem,deconstructingandtransportingthemajorityofthemand,insomespecialcases,constructingmeticulouscopiesofbuildingsthatcouldnotbemoved.Skanseniscurrentlyalivinghistorymuseumreenacting18thcenturyfolklife,aconcertvenue,afestivalgrounds(SwedishNationalDayiscelebratedhere),andazoorolledintoonelargecampusthatisboth

CivilWarReeanctment,GreenfieldVillage

Skansen

Skansen

themeparkandmuseum.IncontrasttoSkansen’sfocusoncountrylife,TheOldTown(DenGamleBy)inDenmarkreenactstownlifebyreconstructingseveralbuildingsfromthenearbytownofAarhaus,aswellasothersfromacrossDenmark.InthesamewayasSkansen,thebuildingsarenotadjacent to,nordo theyatall refer to the locationfromwhich theyweremoved.Instead,therelocatedbuildingsnowhelptocreateanewmythicenvironment,beingastagesetforthereenactmentofhistoricaldailylife,monumentstonationalidentity,touristattractions,andavisualregisterofnationaluniqueness.

In theseopenairmuseums, architecture is not concernedwith its primary rolesofspace, form,oroccupation,but rather itssupporting rolesofstageset,narrative, icon,andobject.InthesamewaythatonewouldgotoaCivilWarreenactmenttostudytheater,role-playing,narrative,andcontemporaryinterpretationsofhistoryratherthanhistoryitself,Iwouldargueonewouldstudyarchitecturalreenactmenttostudyarchitecture’sparticipationinperformance,politics,monuments,andhistoryratherthanthedesignofspace.Theseopenairmuseumspresentanopportunitytostudyanextremearchitecturalconditionwhichwillcallattentiontosomeofthemoreobscurerolesthatarchitecturecanassume.

Todate,openairmuseumshaveescapedacademicarchitecturalinterestduetothefactthatthesebuildingsareseenasartifactsinsteadofarchitecture.Instead,thevastmajorityof academic literature addressing these museums debates the historical merits of livingor reenacted history. Instead of investigating the commonly raised questions of historicalpreservationandauthenticity,orthecontentofwhatisbeingpresented,Iaimtoinvestigatethedeliveryofthatcontentandwhatpartarchitecturehastoplayinthatdelivery.

proposal: ThisgrantwillinvestigatetheroleofarchitectureinlivinghistorymuseumsthroughclosereadingofSkansen(Stockholm,Sweden)andDenGamleBy(TheOldTown,Aarhaus,Denmark)throughmultiplesitevisits.Thesesitesrepresentboththelargestandfirstexamplesofopenairmuseums(theybothpredateGreenfieldVillage),aswellashavingasignificantcollectionofrepurposedbuildingsinsteadofsimplyfocusingon19thcenturyfolklife.Finally,thesemuseumshavetranscendedtheirstatusbeyondsimplybeingmuseums;theyarealsothemeparks,zoos,andnationalmonuments.Thebuildingsassembledattheselocationshavebecomeattractionsinadditiontobeingeducationalartifacts.

Thequestions Iwish to address throughclose readingof theseparticularopen-airmuseums are: How does architecture participate in the reenactment of living history?Howdoesanemphasisoncurationchangethestatusofanarchitecturalobject?Howcanarchitectural representationbeco-opted to communicate roles architecture canplayotherthanspace,occupation,material,ortectonics?

The goal of this investigation is to produce several parallel documents within asinglealmanac,eachofwhichwillhighlightthesupportingrolesarchitectureisbeingaskedtoportraybydocumentingthebuildingwithseparaterepresentationaltechniques.Museumcatalogphotography,stageblockingdiagrams,storyboards,elevations, iconographicdetaildrawings,andaclaudeglasswillbeusedtocreatemultivalentrepresentationsofthebuildings.

The purpose of this almanac is not to delve deeply into the historical origins ofthesebuildings,butrathertounderstandtheirrepurposedrolewithinthecuratedpark.Oneprecedent for thiswork isLearning fromLasVegas. The purposeof this deep reading ofLasVegasasastriparchetypebyVenturi,ScottBrown,andIzenourwasnottoreproduceLasVegas in theirwork,but tounderstandarchitecturalcommunicationand the impactoftheautomobileonarchitectural spaceand form inanextreme locationwherearchitecturehasbeendefinedpurelyby thecommunicationat thespeedofacar.Theirworkexposedthat architecturewas not just a formal object in space, but was communicative aswell.

DenGamleBy

Skansenreenactedhardwarestore

LearningfromLasVegas

In the sameway,my proposal seeks to recover and redefine some of the other roles ofarchitecturethathavebecomelostinanageofcomputationalformalism,ecologicaldisaster,anddiagrammaticclarity.

Another important precedent for thiswork isUmberto Eco’s trip from Travels inHyperreality.EcovisitedsevendifferentwaxmuseumswithsevendifferentwaxversionsofTheLastSupper.Eachoftheversionsisdifferentfromoneanotheryetsomehowtranscendtheoriginalpainting.Ecowrites,“Thefalsehoodhasacertainjustification,sincethecriterionoflikeness,amplydescribedandanalyzed,neverappliestotheformalexecution,butrathertothesubject...Wearegivingyouthereproductionsoyouwillnolongerfeelanyneedfortheoriginal.”Inthisessay,EcolargelyavoidsdiscussingthevalidityofproducingcopiesofTheLastSupper, instead focusingonhow these reproductionsbecome legitimateentities thatproducetheirownidentity.Similarly,astheBoothfellow,Iwillinvestigatetherolearchitecturehas to play in populist reenactments without questioning whether this reenactment isappropriatelyarchitectural.

Theultimateproductofthisinvestigationistobuildavisualandtextualvocabularyofarchitecturalreenactment,highlightingapopulistarchitecturalphenomenonthathasbeenignoredbytheprofessionsofar.Thisvocabulary,formattedasanalmanacinbothprintedanddigitalform,willnotonlyserveasaguideexplaininghowarchitecturalreenactmentoperates,but also how reenactment is a reflection of the present, ultimately being a contemporaryexpressionoftheculturethathasproducedit.

battlefielddiagram

claudeglass

stagenotation

Ross Hoekstra

abstract: I will travel to Stockholm, Sweden and Aarhus, Denmark for one month toextensivelydocumenttwoofthefirstlivinghistorymuseumseverconstructed,concentratingonthecurationandrepresentationofthehistoricalbuildingsthathavereassembledonsite.Thesebuildingswillbedocumentedthroughmultiplerepresentations, fromstraightforwardarchitectural drawings to touristic representations using a claude glass to theatricalrepresentations.

The purpose of this documentation is to expose how architecture can be usedin the service of history, narrative, theater, and heritage at the expense of space, form,and occupation. This documentationwill both begin to outline the tactics of architecturalreenactment,andspeculatehowalexiconofreenactmentmightpaintafullerpictureofthemultivalentrolesarchitecturecanplay.

itinerary:

Fly ->DTWtoStockholmSweden Visit ->DocumentSkansen[17 days] Ride ->TraintoCopenhagenandAarhus,Denmark Visit ->DocumentTheOldTown(DenGamleBy)for[10 days] Ride ->TrainreturntoCopenhagen Fly ->CopenhagenDenmarktoDTW