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The Choreum

Part 2 Project 2020
Russell Royer
Architectural Association London | UK
The Choreum, looked beyond the confines of a 12 -month student project and defined the start of an ongoing practice. Designed to confront the current architecture of museums, both literally and in their institutional make-up, the Choreum ensures that artefacts and their respective source communities take pride of place. THEIR knowledge and connection to THEIR artefacts transcends the tangible/material world that our professions limits us to. Where indigenous voices have been largely absent, the Architect must perform an altruistic role, forming part of a support system, letting go of dated architectural references, and investing in the desires of source communities.

Through consultation with UCL's Archaeology department, among others, we recognised that all artefacts are inherently spatial, that they alter the movements and values of their respective owners. As such, spaces were designed for communities to explore their protocols or to invent new ones, to ensure that the museum represents a momentary pause in the extended life of cultural objects.

The Choreum is NOT following the trend of decolonising institutions. Instead, we look to architecture and performance as tools for the creation of new cultural spaces/systems, superseding current frameworks from the scale of the individual to the networked collective.







Russell Royer

Tutor(s)
Daisy Ginsberg
Inigo Minns
Ivan Morison
2020
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