Architecture Connecting: Memoryscapes

The second volume in the Architecture Connecting series explores the pivotal role the human narra- tive plays in shaping the spaces of tomorrow. Centered on the relationship between architecture and concepts from the fields of anthropology, archaeology and geology, this publication presents the practice of two studios that delve into the past with both precise interventions and broad archaeo- logical investigation. The studios DnA_Design and Architecture, based in Beijing, and Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects, based in Tokyo and Paris, create work that is based on excavations of memories, narratives and knowledge about the specific place. The two studios showcase how architecture can create solutions that benefit the present by forming a bridge between past and future.

DnA _Design and Architecture was founded by Xu Tiantian. She has received numerous awards and has built a number of projects, such as the Songzhuang Art Center and the Ordos Art Museum. In the past years she has been engaged extensively in the rural revitalizing process in Songyang and Zhejiang Province. Her groundbreaking “architectural acupuncture” is a holistic approach to the social and economic revitalisation of rural China and has been selected by UN-Habitat as the case study of Inspiring Practice on Urban-Rural Linkages.

ATTA – Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects is a Paris-based international architecture atelier founded by Tsuyoshi Tane. ATTA collaborates with a team of architects and designers across a broad spectrum of projects – from urban planning and architecture to exhibition design – spanning diverse geographies and cultural contexts. Major works include the Estonian National Museum and the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art. Central to ATTA’s practice is the concept of “Archaeology of the Future,” an approach that explores the memory, culture and anthropology inherent to the specificity of each site.