Theory | uniformnovember

It is this final role of ‘architecture as register’ that has gone on to help underpin an evolution to a contemporary role of ‘architecture as peacebuilder’. Driessen argues “the built environment provides cues for behaviour, meaning that architecture too is a means of nonverbal communication.

History has been gathered up and presented as heritage of a meaningful past that should be remembered and more and more buildings and other sites have been called on to act as witnesses of the past” (Macdonald 2009, p01).

However, for some like Cornelius Holtorf “cultural memory is not about giving testimony of past events, as accurately and truthfully as possible, nor is it necessarily about ensuring cultural continuity: it is about making meaningful statements about the past in a given cultural context of the present. (Holtorf, 2001).

“peace processes must look to the past, to the violence, divisions and origins of conflict, and construct (or deconstruct) it in such a way as to allow society to move forward” (McDowell and Braniff, 2014 p05).

“Who controls the past, ran the party slogan, controls the future - Who controls the present controls the past” (Orwell, 1949; 2003).

Therefore, whilst dealing with post-conflict communities subject to a transition from negative to a positive peace , individual and social, past and present memories, require empathy and trustworthy responses .