Precarious Landscapes: Valparaiso's Earthquake Research Center and Memorial Museum

Abstract

The relationship of humans and nature has changed over time due to the advancement of technology and science, which has led us to believe that everything in the world can be somehow explained and controlled. However, a drastic unpredictable change, such as a natural disaster, alters that perception. How does a disaster change the identity of an individual and a community? Can architecture help these victims find themselves in the world after such distressing experience? This thesis explores architecture’s role in a community dealing with catastrophic trauma; the physical and psychological needs of the people. While we can’t really predict or stop a disaster, the reaction to and recovery from these devastating events, can be improved to better facilitate the survival and recovery process of the community, and its victims.

Through the creation of an Earthquake Research Center and a Memorial Museum, in the city of Valparaiso, Chile (a city that has gone through tremendous catastrophes); the architecture will explore the placing and displacing of memory, becoming a place for documentation, education and commemoration. The intended experience is a bridging between chaos and order, sacred and profane, creation and destruction.