Memoriscape / Tian Ren, Chen Chen, Ke Xu

深度日常项目，附对谈。
对一些机会和条件合适的项目推出深度报道，希望更立体的将项目展现给大家。
来自哈佛大学的任天，陈忱和徐珂，他们赢得了南法小城Montpellier的建筑艺术展Festival
des architectures vives的竞赛“Souvenir，记忆”。

非常感谢任天将项目介绍和项目图片授权gooood发行。
Appreciation towards Tian Ren for providing the following description:

设计师：任天，陈忱,  徐珂
Designer: Tian Ren, Chen Chen, Ke Xu
地点：蒙彼利埃, 法国
Location: Montpellier, France
竞赛时间：2013年二月至三月
Competition Date: February to March 2013
竞赛主办：哈佛大学设计学院
Competition Organizer: Harvard Graduate School of Design
建造时间：2013年六月
Construction Date: May-June 2013
展览时间：2013年六月
Exhibition Date: June 2013
赞助：Technilum
Sponsorship: Technilium, Bezier, France
建造：Technilium
Construction: Technilium, Bezier, France
材料：铝，喷塑
Material: Aluminum
指导：George Legendre
Advisor: George Legendre
特别感谢：杨逸伦，王洵
Special Thanks: Yilun Yang, Xun Wang

这个比赛是南法小城Montpellier的一个建筑艺术展，Festival des architectures vives，每
年这个建筑展都会邀请世界各地的建筑师和艺术家参家，今年他们邀请了哈佛大学设计学
院。二三月的时候，哈佛设计学院的老师George Legendre组织了一个比赛，比赛是为了
选出一个作品作为最会去法国的建成作品。

竞赛给我们的信息只有三个：建筑展的主题是“Souvenir，记忆”，地点是当地老城中的一
个17世纪的内院，作品将由由当地铝加工厂Technilum会赞助并加工。我们当初在构思这
个项目的时候想到了以前见过的系满红丝带的许愿树，也想到了苏州园林中的太湖石，枯
山水。我们希望作品能够和参观者有一个很好的互动，并希望它带有一点东方的味道。

设计构想是做一个人们的记忆的景观：取南法薰衣草的形式，融入一圆盘之中，小树被刻
画上了七种情绪：喜，怒，哀，惧，爱，恶，欲，也就是我们常说七情六欲中的七情。参
观者可拾起与记忆相对应的情绪，写上自己的感想，再种到圆盘之上。圆盘按照时间与年
龄编号，只让细心的人们看到。参观者也可在同时看别人的回忆，由此跨越时间空间，产
生交流。最终，参观者也成了艺术品的重要一部分。

Festival des Architectures Vives is an architecture festival organized in the city
Montpellier, France. This year, they invited Harvard Graduate School of Design to
participate in it. In early 2013, there was a competition organized to select a winning
entry to be built in June.

We knew that the theme of the festival is “memory”; the site is going to be in a 17th
century old building’s courtyard; and the material is aluminum,  as a local factory
specializes in aluminum construction is the sponsor. We immediately thought about
“wishing trees” in some buddhist temple, where people tie red fabric to the trees; as well
as miniature landscapes. We wish to create  art installation that can interact with the
visitors.

The form is inspired by the miniature landscape in traditional oriental garden, but taking
the shape of lavender field of south france. Visitors can pick up the “trees” that etched
with seven human emotions according to Chinese philosophy, write down their
memories or wishes, then plant them on the “landscape”. The “landscape” is also subtly
indexed with year and age, to allow visitors to place the trees according to date and
age.

Memoriscape

Life may be some sort of
Periodic landscape
Hill and valley, river and lake
Rejoys in sunshine
Rests in moonlight
Ephermal yet eternal

I will plant my happiness on the peak
Bury sadness in the valley
Marking directions
little milestones
with pride

In this indexical process
I am nothing
but a collection of memories
In this vast landscape
Called life

Maybe time is the only instrument
With which
I can be my own cartographer
To measure this
memoriscape

And you know
what often touches me
Are the things that i have forgotten
Or vaguely remember

Maybe my memory is also yours
And in yours
I could search for mine

一开始我们很担心参观者不一定会配合着参与到作品中来，甚至我们担心那些小树会被人
装在口袋偷走。然而我们的担心都是多余，作品最终的效果非常好，人们非常容易就理解
了我们的意图，自然而然地开始了与作品地互动。比如我们看到一个孩子，拿了“爱”然后
开心地在上面画了小房子小鸟；也看到一个中年男人带着他地小孩，拿了“哀”，然后在上
面写了“She left us. (她离开了我们）；有一个怀孕的妈妈拿了“喜”，并在上面写上宝宝地
名字和预产期的日期；有人拿了“怒”在上面写了“ Boston Strong （纪念波士顿马拉松爆炸
案”；也有一个老人拿了“惧”并告诉我们她想放在1948年她20岁地时候，因为那时发生了枪
击案，至今仍让她记忆犹新。到展览的最后一天，所有一千两百余棵树都被写满，原本光
图的山丘也变得郁郁葱葱，成了真正的记忆的景观。

作为创作者，最感动的莫过于看到人们与这个作品产生了交流。当人们拿起四毫米厚，承
重精致的铝制小树，写上自己的回忆与愿望，在放到圆盘之上的时候，也许会有一种宗教
般的仪式感，而这种仪式感或许成为了他们回忆的一种宣泄，或者对愿望的实现增添了一
份信心。此刻，我们也再次发现了装置潜在的力量。

At beginning, we were worried about visitors will not interact with the installation the way
we wanted. However the worries were unnecessary, the interaction happened very
naturally, visitors understood the installation right away, and start to take part in it.
There was a kid picked “love” and start drawing little bird; a pregnant young mother
picked “happiness” and wrote her child’s name and birth date; a father with his son
picked “sadness” and wrote “she left us”; a man picked “angry” and wrote “boston
strong!”; an old lady picked “fear” and wrote 1948, and told us she still remember a
shooting happened that year she was afraid. In the end, all the 1200 trees were filled
with people’s writing, the installation was completed.

For us, the successful interaction was probably the most rewarding experience. When
people picked up the trees that are well made with good material, there is a sense of
seriousness as they write on them; the action of putting the trees on the landscape
became some sort of ritual, where people feel that their wishes could be fulfilled or their
sadness could be erased. It is at this moment, we discover the potential of this
installation.

Conversation between Wang Yaohua and Ren Tian
Wang Yaohua: architect student                             
Ren Tian: architect student 
 
王耀华对话任天
王耀华：哈佛大学GSD在读研究生 
任 天：哈佛大学GSD在读研究生      
向玲参与

W: What do you think is the main difference between designing a building and
designing an installation?
R:An installation is like miniature architecture, there is no fundamental difference between
the two. Similar to architecture, installation design needs to consider concept, form,
tectonics, fabrication and construction. However, compare to architecture, installation
usually has a shorter life span, and is less complex. The thinking behind an installation
can be closer to art works compare to architecture, since there are usually less
functioning requirements and constraints.

王：你觉得设计装置和设计建筑的区别是什么？
任：设计装置其实就是缩小的建筑，本质上没有太大区别。和建筑一样，需要考虑概念，形
式，建构，材料，建造。要说不同，那么也许装置的周期没有建筑这么长，牵扯到的复杂
性也没有这么大，也可以更贴近艺术，而不需要考虑太多的实用要求。
 

W: Which part of the installation is most challenging to the artist?
R:The difference between installation and other traditional art forms is installation’s
interactive and compound nature. The interactiveness allows visitor to be part of the art
work, encourage their participation  and feedback to the installation itself, through
interaction, visitors’ input and the installation become one. The compound nature
meaning that it is not a sculpture, painting, or music, for an installation to achieve the
intended effect, it can use a combination of different mediums. It is very challenging to
the artists to make sure the visitors will interact with the installation the way they want.

王：你觉得设计装置对艺术家最大的挑战是什么？
任：装置不同于建筑，绘画，或是雕塑的地方在于其与观众的互动性，与形式的复合性。互动
性在于能够让参观者参与其中，激发参与者的某些思考，并将这些思考反馈到作品之中，
同时体现出来, 从而令观众成为作品的共同完成者。形式的复合性在于他的形式可以是不
拘一格的，通过形式，空间，语言，文字等形式的叠加而达到作者要达到的效果，并形成
互动。所以装置对与艺术家来说，可以说是一个挑战，因为他直接要求参观者加入其中互
动，而如何让参观者按照艺术家的意愿与作品互动，便需要经过一个缜密的思考过程。
 

W: How do you think about the orientation of your installation as an object?
R:As an object, the directionality of the installation is governed by its site. In our project,
responding to the squarish courtyard site, our installation takes the shape of a circle,
since circle and square’s harmonic geometrical nature. Meanwhile, since all the visitors
will come in from the main gate to the courtyard, we inclined the installation slightly
towards the entrance, setting a frontal view to the entrance.

王：你的装置作为一个物体，你对它的方向性是怎么看的？
任：装置作为一个物体，其方向性是由场地决定的。比如在这个作品中，由于场地是一个方型
的天井，所以装置选择了圆形作为平面，因为圆与方的天然和谐性。然而进入天井有一个
主入口，所有的参观者都会从这里进入，所以我们将圆盘向门口的方向稍稍倾斜，与门形
成一个呼应。
 

W: What do you learn from this installation and how would you develop it further?
R:Installation is like miniature architecture, so what apply to installation also apply to
architecture. Through installation project, we have gained experience in construction,
detail, material, fabrication and project management, which are all valuable experience
for us to practice architecture in future. Moreover, some interactive element can be
used in architecture too.

王：哪些从这个装置上学到的东西，你是会继续发展的？
任：装置就是缩小的建筑，所以除了设计之外可以学到很多世纪建造方面的东西。比如构造，
节点，材料，组织，施工，沟通等等，这些都可以成为届时做真正建筑时的经验积累。另
外，我觉得很多复合表现形式和互动性的东西也是我从做装置上学到的，或许可以运用一
些到建筑或室内设计的细节上。

W: What were the difficulties you encountered during the design and build process?
R:The geographical distance and language barrier during the construction documentation
phase caused some communication inconvenience between us and the manufacturer,
which slowed down the process. But the factory’s high quality control and precision
allowed the final installation to be quite satisfactory.
The construction document was prepared in a short time, which didn’t allow us to build a
scaled model of the final design to study the connection points. There were some small
mistakes made, fortunately they didn’t affect the final installation. Through this
experience we learned that to achieve hundred percent precision, scale model and
mock up are always necessary, and should be done very seriously.

王：作品的完成遇到了哪些困难？
任：地理上的距离与语言的不同使得在施工图阶段的沟通不是非常顺畅，使得最后在现场施工
时耽误了一些时间。 但工厂对零件加工的精细程度很高，装置最终的完成度和品质都令人
满意。
此外，当时正值学期最忙的阶段由于时间限制，我们没能挤出时间制作一个完整的最终的
模型以检验各节点的设计万无一失，是此次最大的经验教训和收获。幸运的是最终只有一
些很小的地方需要返工，没有影响到安装的进度和装置的效果。

W: From this installation experience, what is your view communication and compromise?
R:If you look carefully, you may realize that the finished color of the installation is very
different from the renders we had in the competition drawings. We wished the
installation to be in metallic silver, but it was finished in black and green. It was because
the communication between us and the factory was handicapped by language and time
difference. We only know about the new color when we saw the actual cut pieces. At
beginning we felt disappointed, but after assembly it does not look too bad, so we kind
of think of it as the contribution from the sponsor and contractor, who added new
possibility to the installation.

王：一系列的建造经验中，你是如何看待沟通还有妥协？
任：如果大家注意发现，我们原来的效果图希望整个项目都是银灰色的，而最后成品却成了黑
色与绿色，与原作品截然不同。这是沟通方面出现的问题导致的结果。由于我们与法国工
厂无法直接沟通，又有时间差，所有当他们决定上色时与我们没有及时沟通，等我们到的
时候已经为时已晚。既然已经无法挽回，这时也只能妥协。作为设计者，面对妥协只能感
到无奈与惋惜。然而也没有觉得这就是一个失败，退一步海阔天空，作为设计者也可以把
此举当作是艺术作品创作的一部分。

W: What do you think of the difference in the time span between installation and
architecture?
R:Installation’s life span is flexible, architecture’s is usually longer. The Memoriscape
exhibited for just five days during the architecture festival, but will be a permanent
collection by the sponsor, in that sense, it will exist forever. On the other hand, as
designers, we knew that this installation is only designed for the five days period to
happen in that particular courtyard setting, leaving that setting, the installation will lost
its original power. Thus, to us it only existed for five days. Maybe it does not matter how
long it has existed, what matters is that it has existed, because as long as it has existed,
it can continue to exist in a variety of ways: conversation, picture, internet etc, and
trigger new thoughts and conversations.

王：一个装置存在的时间和一个建筑存在的时间差别蛮大的，对这样的差别你有什么看法？
任：通常，装置存在的时间可长可短，建筑相比之下会比较长也。比如这个作品虽然在建筑节
期间只在庭院里展出了五天，但是其之后会被赞助者永久收藏，也可以说它将一直存在。
然而这个装置是为这个展览其特定的时间与空间环境设计的，移动到另一个语境之后就不
一定再有原来的效果，那么也可以说它真正存在的时间，也不过短短五天。建筑相比之下
不会被移动，所以他的存在通常会更长久。然而时间的长短也许并不重要，重要的是这件
作品（事件）的发生与否，因为只要发生过，它都可以以另一种方式长存下去（如存在于
话语，图片，互联网上），引发更多的思考与探讨。 

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任天：rentian2007@gmail.com
陈忱：chenchen2694@gmail.com
徐珂：xuke19870117@gmail.com