The city as a living museum: reimagining the architecture of industrial monuments through psychogeography and collective memory in Nelson, British Columbia

Contemporary development is often
\ndesigned within prescribed metrics of cost
\nand performance ratios - perhaps with some
\nconsideration for the programmatic utility and
\noutward presentation of the building - though
\nrarely does it reflect the past history of the
\nsite on which it occupies. It is not common
\nfor a new development to seek to ascertain the
\ncollective subconscious that inhabits the echoing
\nvestiges of its long-established location, one of
\nmonumental importance to the city it markedly
\ntakes its place within. Albeit a global phenomenon
\nof modern practice in design, a specificity of
\nlocale, programmatic intent, and architectural
\npremise are identified within this thesis as an
\nexemplary study of this proposed rethinking of
\ndevelopment - through Guy Debord’s Dérive.
\nAny city to undertake this process would require
\nits own depth and breadth of understanding
\ncritical to its particular genius loci to materialize a
\nrenewed condition of its neglected monuments.
\nThrough a collection of research and
\ndesign - influenced by the Situationists (the
\nDérive), and urban theorists including Aldo
\nRossi, Kevin Lynch, and Christine Boyer - the
\ncity of Nelson, British Columbia will be analyzed
\nthrough the frameworks of monumentality,
\ncollective memory, and psychogeography to
\nrevitalize abandoned industrial monuments as
\nthe initial movement for the city to be perceived
\nand experienced as a ‘living museum’ of historic
\nsites, and stories. Many heritage buildings have
\nbeen preserved (to various degrees) largely
\nwithin the downtown core of the city, however
\nthe precursor industrial monuments have not
\nfared as well against the various conditions of
\ntime in an evolving city. As the catalyst for the founding of Nelson, primary industries and
\nhistoric transportation routes long served as the
\nbackbone of all development, yet they are the
\nleast respected in terms of their heritage value on
\nthe immense sites they occupied. This makes the
\nabandoned industrial monuments of the city the
\nlargest gaps in the urban fabric, and prime areas
\nfor a conception of recovery, and adaptation, to
\nthe contemporary dilemma of land utilization.
\nA total of five historic ‘monuments’
\nthroughout the city have been examined and
\narchitecturally illustrated anew as the first in
\na series of alternate proposals for an episodic
\nrejuvenation of the urban landscape. Each
\nof these sites has a long history of industrial
\nimportance in Nelson and have since fallen into
\ndisuse. Establishing them as core community
\nspaces with programs both reflective of their
\ncollective histories, and of relevant contemporary
\nuse, will serve not just to revitalize the individual
\nmonuments, but further goals to stimulate future
\nholistic development in neighbouring areas.
\nWhile the five locations do not have a unifying
\ndesign style or physical linkage (due to the nature
\nof reflecting their unique origins and memories),
\nthey each have specific histories, including
\narchitectural narratives, and are all connected
\nvia the drifting perceptions of the urban dweller
\nthrough the method of the Dérive. By reestablishing influential monuments of the city
\ninto public spaces with a concentrated collective
\nmemory (as well as individual experience), and
\nconnecting them with relevant transportation,
\nsignificant historic places will be made accessible
\nto the community, further revealing the unique
\nconditions and stories that allowed for the urban
\nform of Nelson to come into being.

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