Zakhor: a holocaust memorial museum for mourning and healing

As the immediate connection grows between us and the Holocaust, society must seek solutions to the consequences of time in order to maintain a living and visceral connection to it, ensuring its enduring impact. This practicum project examines how the medium of the museum can be formulated to halt the descent of memory into history. Utilizing a combination of traditional Jewish mourning, healing and remembrance practices; memory theories and the architectural and spatial connections to memory, this project establishes how memories can be triggered, created and maintained through exhibition space. My research and following conclusions are informed by theorists including Alison Landsberg, Juhani Pallasmaa, Daniel Libeskind, Stephan Jaeger, David Dernie and Graeme Brooker. The combination and application of these theorists develop a case for an experiential museum space that utilizes specific and personal narratives to educate and connect visitors to the Holocaust, providing a means to continue its memory through the spatialization of memory theories. Some of the key theories that inform these decisions are that of prosthetic memory production through space; the implementation of mise-en-scene elements to enable strong sensory engagement and emotional affect; and the use of fragments and reflective space enabling visitors to embed and develop their own understanding of the exhibition’s narrative. These theories are implemented through elements including lighting, architectural form, transmedia, circulation, experientiality, narrative and exhibition tactics. The combination of research methods including a literary analysis, site and building analysis, precedent studies of relevant architectural projects and program analysis combine to inform the design proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Vancouver Unitarian Church. The use of an existing building and implementation of adaptive reuse practices further add to the palimpsest of memory engrained in this project, acting as