Architect Merril Sinéus fights for the reintegration of socially vulnerable inhabitants into urban space. Through diverse programmes, Sinéus puts forward a kind of ‘architecture of rehabilitation’, often linked to the habitat in its broadest sense. Acting on pre-existing structures, on the domestic, quotidian level and in direct interaction with future users, her projects demand flexibility from the architect. With this in mind, we knew she would be the perfect candidate for a residency with L’Espace Féminin in June 2015.
Here is her statement on the conclusions that she drew:
This Berlin residency was envisaged “on the move”. For me, it has been a sort of walking exile, of the sort that produces “the legendary that is currently lacking in close proximity” (De Certeau). The status of the outsider might appear comfortable, but it conceals an ambivalence; we benefit at times from a certain retreat, a greater awareness of that to which we are not accustomed, but the immediacy of this feeling becomes more intense in the experience of the unknown, of the unforeseen reaction to things. The notion of the unknown also poses the existential question of the value of the present, and of our own limits in the face of incertitude…
Exploring the Soldiner Straße neighbourhood and meeting its residents was rich in terms of discoveries and surprises. It was necessary to pin down the living matter of this experience. The drawings are an attempt to decipher “the permanent enigma” of the city (Sennett): the drawings are witnesses to the observation of the land, traces of a singular experience, then a labour of re-writing, of re-activating memories, of translation. They contain, like records of a voyage, an a posteriori account of what has been undergone. Two points of reflection are also present. Firstly, it is about getting into a receptive state for the people who surround us, then outlining our trepidation in order to interrogate it with the drawing. One could compare this sense of orientation to the construction of sense. Deciphering the urban tissue, connecting places in the mind… This makes sense of one thing in relation to another, and in relation to a variable and dynamic totality.
To draw allows the expression of one’s own intuition, of the neighbourhood, as if it were a layering of memories that are personal, yet significant, attached to a particular time and across places. This does not constitute a method, but rather a spontaneous language. For an architect, it is the opportunity for reflection on what grounds the project in places and on the affect that moves one to ‘intervene’.
Photo: Map by Merril Sinéus
This Berlin residency was envisaged “on the move”. For me, it has been a sort of walking exile, of the sort that produces “the legendary that is currently lacking in close proximity” (De Certeau). The status of the outsider might appear comfortable, but it conceals an ambivalence; we benefit at times from a certain retreat, a greater awareness of that to which we are not accustomed, but the immediacy of this feeling becomes more intense in the experience of the unknown, of the unforeseen reaction to things. The notion of the unknown also poses the existential question of the value of the present, and of our own limits in the face of incertitude…
Exploring the Soldiner Straße neighbourhood and meeting its residents was rich in terms of discoveries and surprises. It was necessary to pin down the living matter of this experience. The drawings are an attempt to decipher “the permanent enigma” of the city (Sennett): the drawings are witnesses to the observation of the land, traces of a singular experience, then a labour of re-writing, of re-activating memories, of translation. They contain, like records of a voyage, an a posteriori account of what has been undergone. Two points of reflection are also present. Firstly, it is about getting into a receptive state for the people who surround us, then outlining our trepidation in order to interrogate it with the drawing. One could compare this sense of orientation to the construction of sense. Deciphering the urban tissue, connecting places in the mind… This makes sense of one thing in relation to another, and in relation to a variable and dynamic totality.
To draw allows the expression of one’s own intuition, of the neighbourhood, as if it were a layering of memories that are personal, yet significant, attached to a particular time and across places. This does not constitute a method, but rather a spontaneous language. For an architect, it is the opportunity for reflection on what grounds the project in places and on the affect that moves one to ‘intervene’.
Photo: Map by Merril Sinéus