The Memory Radio (2022 - 2023)
“The site was a palimpsest, as was all the city, written, erased, rewritten.” — Andreas Huyssen, Present Pasts
The Memory Radio imagines what it might mean if a space could listen and see as humans do — if architecture itself could hold memory. The device functions as a time machine, continuously recording its surroundings while inviting visitors to navigate those stored traces. This project received the Hochschulpreis 2023 Honorable Mention.
A camera and microphone archive the site second by second, capturing footsteps, conversations, and passing figures. When the device is activated, the darkened room illuminates with projections on acrylic and concrete panels, while fragments of sound reverberate. The two channels run on separate timelines, so what is seen and what is heard never align completely — evoking the fragmentary, shifting nature of memory itself.
Interaction is simple yet intimate: by hovering one hand, visitors guide the sound; with the other, they direct the visuals. They can rewind into the past or fast-forward to the present moment, all while the system continues recording. In this way, the installation encourages participants to picture the memory left within a space — fleeting, layered, and constantly rewritten.