Manson Auction House
Columbia GSAPP / Core 2 Studio / Spring 2024
Instructor: Jarrett Ley
Damage Analysis
On august 8, 1969, Los Angeles, Hollywood actress Sharon Tate was murdered with four other people in her house. The murderers turned out to be members of the so-called “Charles Manson family”. Charles Manson, who was at the center of control, ordered his followers to kill people under the belief that it would raise attention to his claim of armageddon based on white-supremacy. As a result of the killings, Charles Manson and some of his followers were sent to trial in the hall of justice located in Los Angeles convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy. During the trial procedure, Charles Manson and his followers showed eccentric behaviors such as chanting during the trial and singing while being escorted to the courtroom. They even went further to perform body distortion practices situated in media apparatus. After Charles Manson carved an x on his forehead, as a meaning of being xed out of society, the Charles Manson family also carved xes on their foreheads. Also, when Charles Manson shaved his head, his followers also shaved their heads. Other than the family members that were convicted with Charles Manson, outside the courtroom, his other followers sat outside on the street of the court, some of them even crawled along the streets putting rest on their bodies in belief of 2nd resurrection of Charles Manson.
On a broader level of society, there was also damage occurring. People were curious and also fascinated towards the Charles Manson family and so, there was a lot of media attention concentrated. The media apparatus became the conduit of fascination for the general public. Charles Manson’s family, realizing that they are at the center of attention, they acted erratically both inside and outside the courtroom, exactly knowing how to get attention. And thus, there was a co-production and circulation of images by both the media and Charles Manson family causing damage on a macro scale on society in terms of fascination towards Charles Manson family.
Design Process
However, it is also important to note that since the trial caught so much recognition from the general public, jurisdiction power was in play the whole time. Manson was considered as a high security risk and was thus the only one to be held captive in an entire prison cell located on top of the court building. Other than that, they had to install barred gates to control a crowd of cameramen trying to take pictures of the Charles Manson family. And thus, there was tension between Charles Manson family, the media and the jurisdiction authorities during the span of the trial.
Media Apparatus as a Conduit of Fascination
People were curious and also fascinated towards the Charles Manson family and so, there was a lot of media attention concentrated. The media apparatus became the conduit of fascination for the general public
Macro Damage
co-production and circulation of images by both the media and Charles Manson family causing damage on a macro scale on society in terms of fascination towards Charles Manson family.
Design Proposal Physical Model
Model
Facade
Exterior
Interior
Interior Language Extended to Exterior
This building has different layers of walls that could be moved easily as can be seen from the plan since the configuration of the walls has to be changed during the exhibition and the play. Aso so, the interior walls are designed so that it can be rotated along the tracks of the stage, shifting its shape from a flat wall to a curved wall. This flexible characteristic of the interior walls are also expressed in the exterior as shifting visibility of the interior from the exterior. From the outside, people could view the building and see a glimpse of the people moving inside the building, however not completely due to the slits of the facade that restricts the view in a specific range.
Facade Inducing Voyeurism
At the bottom of the building, there is a storage. From the public passage that goes around the building, people have a restricted view from the outside through the slits of the facade. The artifacts are stored in a specific manner that provides a magnified image to the people outside by utilizing a convex lens in front of the storage shelf.
Structural Model
Truss structure with cables attached to the main column, enablling a column free space
Section Perspective
The building has multiple vertical and horizontal layers.
Crime Location As The Building Site
The building sits on where Sharon Tate was murdered. This auction house presents a form of fetishization by actively bringing the audience to participate in the process of trading and selling items related to Charles Manson and the murder scene. Before the auction, an exhibition where all the items on sale are going to be displayed make use of the psychological desire to imagine oneself to be in a standpoint of Charles Manson’s followers by placing objects according to the sequence of how the actual murder happened. In conjunction, people roam around the exhibition area constantly being faced with themselves framed by different types of cameras with the artifacts in different perspectives projected on the walls.
exhibition
play/ auction
After the exhibition, people are seated at the center where the auditorium is situated. To captivate the audience’s attention towards the artifacts, a play takes place around the center to tell the story behind each of the artifacts by dramatizing the murder of Sharon Tate. The play also utilizes a set of cameras to present perspectives that were not presented before by the media such as a view from the ceiling to show the movement of the killers. When the play is over, a podium for the auctioneer and the stenographer rises from below the floor and the auction takes place.
Interior Configuration During the Exhibition
As one enters the building, there is an atrium that overlooks the view of Los Angeles from the hill. After passing by the atrium, visitors are attracted like a magnet to walk through the weaving circulation of the exhibition.When they arrive in the center, they prepare to buy artifacts.
