Sketching a place in the memory. Mnemotechnics in Miguel Lawner's plans, map and drawings of Dawson Island

Abstract

During the first few months of the dictatorship in Chile led by General Augusto Pinochet, the architect Miguel Lawner was held captive on Dawson Island, in the southernmost region of the country. During this time, he memorized the layout of the detention center and concentration camp at which he was imprisoned, and he created a series of drawings in order to preserve the memory of these places, as well as the events that occurred there. From the imperative of ‘we will not forget’, which Lawner wrote on one of the plans he drafted, this essay analyzes the complex graphic matrix of those experiences in light of the ancient techniques of ars memoriae and reveals their function as devices that elaborate, document and organize the contents of memory.