Government Hill Wireless Station

The Alaska Engineering Commission built this little building on Government Hill in Anchorage in 1917. For many decades it served as the only communications link to the outside world. Today, it rots into obscurity, even though it is on the National Register of Historic Places. They also built the Kern Section House in 1920, and it too gradually decomposes in a town north of Anchorage. I undertook an investigation into different episodes of its history and future in his Thesis titled Unsung. In its pages, he explored concepts of intangible resources, place spirits, and the importance of preservation through narrative and memory.

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The design suggests three sequential variations that first resuscitate, second ruin, and third resurrect the buildings that make up the historic site. The use of the original structures is one of sharing stories and engaging with sound. This program eventually changes into elder care homes. The Section House and Wireless Station become two places of ritual that bookend a community plaza, called the Hall of the Descendants, in the intersection of two neighborhood streets. The hope is to encourage continued use, memory, and sound-making at the site.