Hereafter
Adverb
“From here onwards”
Buildings, just like humans, experience the test of time, when they are reaching their end, death and demolition comes indefinitely. However we often have the desire to prolong death or try to reach out for the concept of “immortality”. Just like buildings, our desire, affection towards these historical buildings created an increase in heritage preservation practice where our heritage building life is beginning to become closer to the lifespan of our generation, flesh and blood.
Unfortunately, too often heritage sites either merely become physical shells of the new or relics to be sanctioned as “significant”, to simply “exist”. Yet, we have a tendency to put our building on life support, invading heritage sites with foreign programs that fail to forge a relationship with the past. Do these preservation methods truly extend the life of these buildings or mark the beginning of their death? Therefore, my thesis research aims to define the lifespan of Jack’s Magazine, and explore a method that embraces the lost of the old, in hope to create a transition of heritage building into the new.
Jack’s Magazine at Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Australia
The Journey
The journey begins on the elevated timber platform above the heritage canal that was once used as the entrance. It is a threshold between different versions of Jack’s Magazine. Slowly transitioning down into the river and foundation of the site, visitors can feel the weight and mass of their surrounds within the space, depicting a sense of loss.
Upon arrival, two vertical retaining walls define the entrance hall where visitors see and follow a long track that was once used for the transportation of gun powder. This pathway leads into the entry hall/chamber within the mounds, where visitors are met with two walls made using existing blue stone reflecting the new and old Jack’s Magazine storage building.
Exiting the long entry tunnel, the visitor arrives at the exhibition hall hosting a memorial of Jack’s Magazine and a living museum of the west. The existing pebbles are left on the middle stand, allowing visitors to take home a piece with them. The act of keeping the pebbles symbolise the responsibility of keeping and remembering the memory of Jack’s Magazine. Once the pebbles slowly disappear, it forms a new gathering spot for future generations and events.
Arriving at the end of the ramp, the visitor reaches the peak of the site where the garden and viewing platform showcase both the old and new Jack’s Magazine. In contrast to the tunnel, this provides a more open and light atmosphere, hinting towards a release from the past.
Exploring the second mound, visitors enter the second exhibition hall where they are met with a void that takes shape of Jack’s Magazine foundation. In addition to a symbol of memorialising Jack’s Magazine, the void has turned into a new opportunity, a new beginning; where landscape and an outdoor platform is inserted carefully into the space, hosting events and exhibitions. The mega-columns erected from the void, hold up the proposed ‘Jack’s Museum’.
