Send / Receive - Transforming Vigra Broadcaster RADIO REMNANTS
Description
How do you commemorate something that no longer exists?
This diploma seeks to make amends with a loss through the processing of remains.
The 240 meter tall radio mast of Vigra broadcasting station was demolished in 2011, it left behind an almost 100 year long story of when radio came to Norway. The introduction of radio changed the very fabric of society and its continued use stands as a testament to the importance this technology still has in society. The radio mast at Vigra represented the early beginnings of telecommunication, at a time marked by rapid progress as wireless entertainment, information and communication came into everyday life. The radio masts destruction cannot be undone, but if you dig underneath the surface remnants will reveal themself.
Like a tree, the radio mast had a subterranean grounding system of copper wires extending out from its base. The state and extent of the wiring poses an ecological risk, but also an opportunity to reconnect with the history of the site in a way that can generate a new future for Vigra broadcaster.
Since the site’s closure several attempts at establishing a museum in the broadcasting station have been made, but none has succeeded. This project proposes an architectural program centered around the transformation of the remnants from the site and establishes a museum that is part of creating its own collection. By utilizing certain plants through a process called phytoextraction, heavy metals like copper can be harvested from the soil. The plants absorb the metal into their tissue and through repeated cycles of planting, harvesting and processing the copper can slowly be removed from the soil. This process is cyclical in nature, and as the seasons change so does the program to allow for the different processes to expand and contract together with the museum.