We are all influenced by memories when we pursue acts of creation. However, these reminiscences are often fleeting and elusive; they rarely are formalized, nor are they explicit in the final artifact.

This work is based on a concrete representation of a childhood memory: the map of a city. The thesis explores ways to design and construct a place where others could, in turn, create their own memory. This place is located in Alexandria, VA, on South Fairfax Drive. It is an integrated mixed use program (Retails on the lower and ground levels, and residences on the 2 upper levels).

This experimentation invites further questions. How strictly should the concrete representation of the memory guide the design? What are the qualities of the spaces resulting of such rules? How to engage in the tension between the explicit memory's realm and the contemporary world? How to express their respective materiality?

|From| Memory of Walls |to| Walls of Memory