Memory Temple | Patrick Tighe Architecture

Memory Temple is an experience at the convergence of sound, material, light, form, and technology. The installation is accompanied by a site-specific composition by a world-renowned composer. The sound-scape is integral to the experience and used to explore the spatialization of sound within the physical boundaries of the gallery. The installation proposes a new structural materiality through the use of renewable polyurethane foam. The foam was used as a total building assembly: structure, envelope, and acoustical barrier. Layers of closed cell foam (used structurally) and open cell foam (used acoustically) were combined to make up the wall assembly. The pure geometry of the parabola provided a natural self-structural form. The musical composition is integral to the experience and provided an ever-changing mobile performed with custom software designed specifically for the installation. Resonance was exploited within the acoustically absorptive space. The interior surface of the parabolic structure is a three dimensional representation of the composition. Realized through on site, six-axis robotic milling, the sonic contours are derived from the sound contained within. A spectrogram of the composition served as a source from which a mapping of frequency was translated into points and vectors. This provided a framework for the digitally modeled three-dimensional surface. The data was then used to robotically carve the interior surface of the volume. Jury Comments This project presents a remarkable approach to investigating the creation of space. The idea of generating a form-aesthetic memory of environmental sounds by using a six-axis CNC machine that mills mapped frequencies translated into points and vectors is altogether fascinating. The ingenious process of fabrication is visible as final product; interior space, in this case, becomes a physical manifestation of another aspect of current culture.