Textile structures: Investigations in collective memory

This thesis explores the importance of retaining the collective memories of displaced communities through a series of investigations in lightweight textile structures. The parallels between clothing and architecture, nostalgia and the meaning of home have been derived from these investigations. Beginning with ideas of complete impermanence and transportability, an initial design of transformable clothing developed into shelter. While architecture implies land ownership, clothing remains the personal property of the body. Clothing not only implies personal belonging but also conveys the material culture of a people and therefore carries with it an implicit memory. It is this relationship between clothing, memory and property that can be asserted and appropriated onto any series of sites.;A memorial building was developed for displaced communities in order to demonstrate the developed textile system as a civic building. If clothing carries an implicit memory, then the infrastructure begins to encompass and display the collective memories of the community.