Museum of Oblivion Memory
Master of Architecture student Jessica Leon D’Toste was among the award-winners of an international student drawing competition called ‘Drawing for the Design Imaginary,’ organized by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), representing nearly 150 institutions in North America and beyond. Jessica’s drawing was one of 47 works selected from over 250 international entries for exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. This exhibition was part of the ACSA’s 107th Annual Meeting and conference on the theme of BLACK BOX: Articulating Architecture’s Core in the Post-Digital Era, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University on March 28-30, 2019.
Jessica’s drawing entitled ‘Museum of Oblivion Memory’ explores cultural identity, collective memory and selective forgetting through a combination of technical drafting and evocative dreaming.
According to the ACSA conference chairs and exhibition curators, the Design Imaginary exhibition explores the role of drawing as an essential tool of architectural pedagogy. Jessica’s drawing entitled ‘Museum of Oblivion Memory’ specifically explores cultural identity, collective memory and selective forgetting through a combination of technical drafting and evocative dreaming. As Jessica explains, the drawing “provides an essential analytical view of human vicissitudes marked by changes and searches… [and] evokes memories via both mind and matter.” Jessica’s work was produced as part of the Department of Architecture’s M1 design studio called Studio Curio (instructors Lisa Landrum and Ted Landrum), in which students were tasked with building cabinets of curiosity and then designing musing institutions for the city of Winnipeg.
In addition to earning recognition for her drawing, Jessica was able to attend the conference and exhibition opening with support from the Department of Architecture, an FGS Travel Award and University of Manitoba Graduate Students’ Association Conference Grant. While her award-winning design work explored themes of oblivion and eroding memories of industry, the experience of attending this event in the dramatic Carnegie Music Hall Foyer will not easily be forgotten. According to Jessica, “being part of the exhibition was a thrilling experience. It was truly inspiring to see all the drawings showcased adjacent to the great Hall of Architecture, and to meet and engage the conference attendees.”
A full exhibition catalogue for ‘Drawing for the Design Imaginary’ may be downloaded here > http://www.acsa-arch.org/docs/default-source/conferences-files/acsa_drawingimaginary_booklet_web.pdf?sfvrsn=0
To learn more about the ACSA Black Box Conference, see the ACSA website: https://www.acsa-arch.org/programs-events/conferences/annual-meeting/107th-annual-meeting
