MEMORY ARCHIVE


MEMORY ARCHIVES:
LAMBETH, LONDON

Established in January 2025, this project is based in the Lambeth district of London. Using virtual exhibition formats and game technology, it transforms personal memorial objects from local residents and immigrants into an uploaded digital space — constructing an online museum that serves both the local community and diasporic memory.

CONCEPT&IDEA




















MEMORY, MIGRATION, AND
THE VIRTUAL STATION



In Lambeth, the coexistence of immigrants and multi-ethnic communities has led to a collective sense of fragmented memory. The project transforms one of London’s most iconic public symbols — the bus stop — into a virtual exhibition space.

Through an online platform, local residents are invited to upload personal memories and photographs, which are then reprojected onto physical bus stops across Lambeth. This process creates a dialogue between the digital and the tangible, reconnecting dispersed histories and returning memory to the people who once shaped it.

PRODUCTION
















BRUTALIST ENVIRONMENT AND
DIGITAL WEATHER SYSTEM




The virtual environment was constructed within Unreal Engine 5, combining the raw architectural language of brutalism with the atmospheric tension of the Scottish and English coastlines. Elements of London’s transport system — street signs, bus stops, and road infrastructures — are reinterpreted as memory vessels within a decaying urban landscape.

A dynamic weather system was designed to simulate rainfall, mist, and environmental erosion. The interplay between moisture, fog density, and light refraction blurs the boundary between material and immaterial space. Within this fluctuating environment, memory and life are rendered as processes of transformation — transient, cyclical, and perpetually dissolving into rain.

ENVIRONMENT&LIGHTING


















RAIN, LIGHT, AND MEMORY



Procedural meshes and modeling assets were layered to construct fractured terrain and concrete geometry. The lighting system was built using Lumen, emphasizing the reflections of wet surfaces and the dynamic interaction between streetlights and fog. Rainfall was simulated through a Niagara particle system, combined with volumetric fog and light scattering to achieve a soft diffusion effect.

The overall color temperature remains within a cold blue-grey spectrum, expressing the solitude and psychological distance of the urban environment. The subtle movement of rain and mist allows the space itself to breathe — the environment becomes alive, echoing memory through cycles of moisture and light.









Created by LYCHEN(YUCHEN LI), 2025
   Chelsea, London, UK
Authorization and consultation details
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