| Abstract | Evidence, noun, verb
The quality or condition of being evident; clearness, evidentness; in evidence [after French en évidence] actually present; prominent, conspicuous; an appearance from which inferences may be drawn; an indication, mark, sign, token, trace.
In his Manhattan Transcripts, 1981, Bernard Tschumi said that architecture ‘cannot be disassociated from the events that happen in it’1. For Tschumi architecture is less about built form and more about interaction – as both material witness and collaborator in the ‘event-world’ that unfolds through and around it. This paper is concerned with methods of capturing this ‘event-world’ where the physical environment – and in particular the interior - operates as a witness to the passing of time, and the transient interactions that take place within in it. Why are some interiors hidden from view or invisible to a public gaze? And what methods of detection might we employ to capture and record the evidence which pertains to these ephemeral moments, preserving them as either material fragments or immaterial data? Sometimes interiors have been designed to be hidden, inaccessible or to be inhabited by very specific users groups. Others are invisible because they are empty - no longer in active use - their intended purpose altered or changed through inhabitation and abandonment. With such interiors there is often no agenda for future possible adaptation; this is the case with the BBC Wing, Alexandra Palace in North London, the site of the first television broadcast in 1936 - currently unoccupied, its destiny uncertain. And Glasgow School of Art - recently devastated by fire, perhaps irretrievably damaging its structure and fabric. Adopting an investigative approach to detecting and narrating the invisible interior, this paper will explore strategies that expose the evidence that is left behind, and assess how new technologies might provide insight into their hidden narratives – atmosphere, emotion, time and memory. |
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