Shipwreck Preservation Laboratory – An Architectural System for Shipwreck Preservation Articulating Shipwreck Autonomy

Abstract

This thesis is a non-human-centric design project that seeks to relate to the ship’s otherness by ‘speaking for it.’ It explores the question: Beyond human’s domination of shipwreck preservation as heritage celebration and a resource for human history education, what architectural language can a ship preservation laboratory adopt to relate the shipwreck’s autonomy?

I investigate the ‘face’ of the shipwreck after its service or sinking event, drawing on ontological and conservation theories, particularly Levinas’ theory on otherness and Christopher Alexander’s concept of the ‘degree of life.’ These frameworks help to understand the ‘partial being’ of a vessel.

Shipwrecks and wreck sites are analyzed, drawn, and modelled, while underwater archaeological preservation processes are studied. Alternative archaeological preservation principles are proposed to maintain the ambiguity of a wreck’s liminal condition. Various media, including embodied image reading, narrative, parametric tools, and hand drawing are applied both intuitively and logically for iterative design development.

A series of preservation laboratories are proposed, including: 1. Excavation Laboratory 2. Stabilization Laboratory 3. Structural Assembly Laboratory 4. Re-Treatment (Re-Stabilization) Laboratory 5. Dispatch & Display Building

Together, these form a ‘holobiont living system’ for shipwreck preservation. Among them, the Re-Treatment (Re-Stabilization) Laboratory (No. 4) is discussed as a Phase 1 test design case, while the Dispatch & Display Building (No. 5) serves as the final design of this thesis. Through this building, I aim to translate the abstract concept of Cordelia’s silence into an architectural language that relates to the wrecked vessel’s ‘partial being.’