Past
Exhibitions that Topic with What We Lost in the Past
Lost Languages
Disappeared Tradition
Unfinished Art
“Mystery Gallery”
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Museum interior · Lin Chen
Experiential
Museum
Reframing Temporal Narratives Within the Interior
The concept
Same space.
Different time.
Through spatial sequencing and choreographed circulation, a museum interior invites users to navigate the emotional and psychological tensions between past and present. Space becomes a vessel where reflection and imagination coalesce, prompting users to embrace the present through a reframed perception of time.
01 / Time & perception
Between memory and presence.
The concept of time is inherently abstract and elusive. Every choice made in the present has the potential to split off into a new parallel universe. Within each of these independent worlds, our timelines may continue to loop endlessly, repeating in ways both familiar and strange.
Ordinarily, we are not granted access to the landscapes of these other timelines. But here, within this museum, such encounters become possible—the same place, at a different time.
Between memory and presence, between what was and what might have been, visitors are invited to momentarily step into a time that does not belong to now.
02 / Circulation
Every visit, a different journey.
I regard each box as an independent universe. Multiple boxes—each a distinct universe—exist simultaneously, interconnected by various “time tunnels” linking parallel dimensions. These tunnels stretch horizontally and vertically, forming a complex and organic network.
As visitors enter this space composed of parallel universes, they are free to choose their own path and sequence of experiences. Every entry and exit creates a new journey, making each visit unique and impossible to replicate.
EntranceFacilitiesExhibitionActivity Zone
Two-way Circulation ↔ · One-way Circulation → · Hidden Pathway ⇢
Entrance: Reception, Waiting Area, Information Desk, Cloak Room · Memorial Hall · Gallery “Unfinished Art” · Gallery “Lost Languages” · Gallery 3 “Disappeared Tradition” · Workshop · Library · Forgetfulness Pavilion · Mirror Room · Cafe · Phone Booth · Shop
Hidden connections: Rotate Door · Bookshelf Sliding Door · Invisible Underground Door · Rised Floor
03 / Discovery
The secret pathway.
Exploration through the unexpected.
Rotating Door · Sliding Door · Rising Floor · Hidden Sliding Door · One-Way Door · Hidden Entrance
Regular Circulation / Hidden Circulation · First Floor / Second Floor
04 / Emotion
A place for what remains unsaid.
Forgetfulness Pavilion
Regrets: Things left unfinished, or emotions left unsaid.
A Dialogue With Oneself: A letter written to your future or past self.
Secrets: Secrets that have never been spoken aloud.
A Dialogue With Time: A letter written to “time” or the “universe,” expressing reflections, doubts, or amazement about life.
Emotion Diagram: Entrance · Forgetfulness Pavilion · Workshop · Cafe · Shop · Mirror Room · Library · Lost Languages · Memorial · Unfinished Arts · Disappeared Tradition
05 / Site & existing condition
The theater as a vessel.
- Site / Project Name
- BAM Harvey Theater
- Location
- 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York, USA · 11217
- Project Type
- Performing Arts Theater
- Year
- Opened in 1904; restored and reopened in 1987
- Seating Capacity
- 874 seats
- Owner
- Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
- Designer / Architect
- Originally designed as the Majestic Theater; restored by Hugh Hardy of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in 1987
06 / Intervention
New construction, on stage.
The experiential museum transformed from an old theater. The original stage has been reconstructed into multiple box-shaped galleries and activity spaces, each centered around a distinct theme.
Visitors act as both audience and performers, navigating between theatrical performance and exhibition.
07 / Past, hybrid, present
Time, made spatial.
The box that represents the past is designed with glass walls, allowing the original audience seating to have a clear view of the interactions within the gallery. It also brings the original architectural materials into the interior of the white box, creating a seamless integration between the old and the new. Some opaque walls facing the audience serve as projection surfaces, displaying scenes and stories that occurred in the same box exactly one week earlier, creating a sense of overlapping time.
Additionally, mirrored surfaces are used throughout the space to reflect different parts of the environment into the current setting, visually and narratively intertwining the various boxes. Through the interplay of reflection and projection, visitors experience events and memories from different time dimensions within the same physical location, evoking a layered perception of time’s passage.
Hybrid
The Place Blend the Past and Present Together
Memorial
Existing Balcony Seats
Terrace
Stairs
Present
Engagement Space that Help to Experience the Past
Library
Workshop
Mirror Room
Forgetfulness Pavilion
PastPresentHybridSecret PathwayExisting Condition
Red Circulation · Green Circulation · Blue Circulation · Secret Circulation
08 / Interior perspectives
Old and new, in conversation.
