Doctoral Student: Stefania Rasile
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bernd Bickel
The advancement of information technologies, the transition from the mechanical-analog era to the digital age, has transformed the ways in which memory is communicated, stored and experienced. Memory is no longer confined to material supports but increasingly detached from physical presence, enabling forms of commemoration that transcends spatial and temporal limitations. Historically, monuments have functioned as activators of collective memory through their physical permanence. Within the contemporary digital condition, however, virtual space emerges as a potential realm of memory in which material absence can be renegotiated. In contrast to the monument, which institutionalizes memory through material presence, the concept of memento is proposed here as a conceptual tool through which virtual spatial representations may evoke remembrance in the absence of the original space.
The research proposes the detachment between inhabitants and domestic space as the specific condition through which the concept of memento is explored. The city of Zurich serves as the primary site of investigation, characterized by intensive processes of residential transformation associated with the contemporary housing crisis, affecting both the built environment and its residents. The selected case studies comprise two distinct residential typologies: the Siedlung and the single-family house. Through these typologies, the research investigates different forms of attachment to domestic space and experiences of loss. The study therefore addresses not only the disappearance or transformation of architectural space itself but also the loss of lived experiences, social relations and collective memories embedded within residential buildings.
Methodologically, the research combines immersive digital technologies with oral memory practices through a digital humanities approach. On the one hand, methods derived from architectural technology are employed to digitally capture and reproduce domestic spaces through XR technologies, in collaboration with the Immersive Design Lab (IDL) at ETH Zurich. On the other hand, the research adopts a qualitative and participatory methodology based on interviews and collective commemorative experiences involving residents and visitors connected to the selected buildings. Digital experimentation is therefore understood not as a final output but as a methodological instrument through which virtual space can be critically tested as a realm for commemoration and dialogue.
Drawing on perspectives from preservation theory, memory studies and human–digital interaction, this research investigates how virtual space can support the perception, experience and commemoration of spaces that no longer exist in material terms. The research also contributes to contemporary debates on the loss of the built environment by questioning the individual and collective value of ordinary domestic spaces and by addressing both the architectural and social dimensions of spatial loss.
Poster image: ©SCANVISION