Site Selection/Program Selection

The DMV is not intrinsically exciting. Banal and boring might be some of the first ideas that even come to mind at the mention of those letters. Or, of course, the agonising wait. The goal of the proposal is not to make the DMV exciting, although one would hope that would be an automatic byproduct of successful architecture. The goal is to explore memory as an architectural process, lifting it from its accepted place in recollection of an architectural experience.

The DMV provides a framework to explore these implications of memory because of the large component of waiting. Waiting, stopping, going, moving, sitting. All aspects of time, which allow it to be framed as a collection of reference points. The same way memory exists.

The DMV conventional elements will not be shifted and alters beyond recognition. Exploration will come through reconfiguring the typical waiting environment with views and user/building relationship.

the site exists along the freeway. the freeway: that cruel bitch. movement, motion, viewing, stopping, endless stopping. reverse relationships. car relationships. there are many ways to move east to west : bus, car, train, walking. linearity reflected. juxtaposition. unique sets of dual (reversed) experiences. memory persists along strings of ordinary. points of interest become nodes of wayfinding. navigating memories is navigating the city. the dmv makes the freeway relevant. the excessive wait is perhaps the largest, and most unspoken, connection. los angeles traffic: that cruel bitch. waiting made (easier?) by the smart phone. mere distractions. where is the persistence of thought, memory, association onto something larger. we can create with our unique human ability: memory. the dmv: that cruel bitch. why is necessity so often overlooked. society created necessity, to be honest, but a necessity. do memories create our unhappiness. what should we remember, how do we forget? do we want to forget? do you want to forget? memory: that cruel bitch. that sick bastard. the freeway commute, we will meet again no matter how i try to avoid you. oh, los angeles, what do we worship other than the freeway. the memory.