On Personal Belongings After a Catastrophe

                     

Musical homage and offerings to a dead musician. Santa Ana, CA, November 2024. Photo by Myriam Mahiques 

1.     Receptiveness

Psychology and sociology continuously refer to objects from a technological perspective which is not related to individuals or the collective discourse.

In his book The System of Objects, sociologist Jean Baudrillard adds the (social) imaginary as a a dimension linked to the object: “The object as humble and receptive supporting actor, as a sort of psychological slave or confidant- the object as directly experienced in traditional daily life and illustrated throughout the history of Western art down to our own day. This object was the reflection of a total order, bound up with a well-defined conception of décor and perspective, substance and bound up with a well-defined conception of décor and perspective, substance and form. According to this conception, the form is an absolute dividing-line between inside and outside. Form is a rigid container, and within it is substance. Beyond their practical function, therefore, objects – and specifically objects of furniture- have a primordial function as vessels, a function that belongs to the register of the imaginary. This explains their psychological receptiveness.” (Baudrillard, 2020). In this sense, personal belongings are not just “things”.

 Emotivity and Phenomenology 

Materiality is essentially physical. It shapes the objects, their fabrication technique, the traces left by time. Materiality is apprehended through our senses which differ according to the culture of communities. It is a concept that expands to the idea of “social” and foremost to the relationship between people and things.

Objects achieve a special strength with the feelings they are assigned to. It could be just a simple pencil which was part of an event; for social groups, it could be a procer’s relic. Offerings are left before statues and memorials, then objects are a bridge between the alive and the dead. 

The element of human perception, the understanding, the intangible part, would be the “atmosphere”. Philosopher Gernot Böhme defines “atmosphere” as a holistic, affective, and sensual quality of a space that mediates between the objective environment and the subjective experience of individuals:

“I have introduced the concept of atmosphere (…) to designate that which mediates the objective qualities of an environment with the bodily-sensual states of a person in this environment; the environment in its entirety generates an atmosphere in which I, as a human, feel in one way or another. (…) I sense in which environment I am located (…). The concept of atmosphere is, according to this etymology, a concept concerning the in-between (Zwischen): between objective conditions and subjective states, between object and subject.” (Böhme, 2014)

China and pottery remnants in Altadena after the wildfires. March 2025. Photo by Myriam Mahiques

In an approach to the sensory expression, the previous paragraphs are pertinent to the importance of our findings in Altadena. We have seen multiple objects of daily life with different degrees of deterioration. Pieces of folk-art stand out among cutlery, toys, décor. The Army Corps of Engineers’ contractors were working with heavy machinery, cleaning lots, and preparing the preliminary excavation for soils remediation. There was no possibility of selecting what would be of value for its repair, recycle or return to the owners. The intangible and emotional aspects were not included in the post-fire management protocol.

 

1.     Possible exhibition of objects

 

Objects have their own biographies. David Howes (2023) writes about the social force of objects: “It is not that this force needs to be “revivified,” though, just acknowledged: “When you see an object reconnect with its family, when they hold an old piece of beading or interact with a pipe, it is not the object which is being reanimated but the relationship which is being rekindled on both sides because of the materiality and sensory connection that happens between them.”

There is also an extrapolation of these objects’ meaning. For example, what was décor, and now is a ruin, could become a piece of exhibit in a museum. An example of this, would be the piece of melted glass from the San Francisco earthquake and fire (1906), donated by Grace Gratton Masterson to the Turtle Bay’s Collection in Redding. The piece is exhibited online and at the museum. In this context, the glass could be exposed due to its mineralogical conditions or because now it is part of the fire collective memory.

 

2.     Brief account from San Francisco history

 

Souvenirs hunters and homeowners looking for personal possession after the earthquake and fire in San Francisco, 1906. Photo from the National Archives.

 

Charles Morris (1906) reports the desperation of people trying to save their household effects during the San Francisco earthquake and fire:

“In the awful scramble for safety the half-crazed survivors disregarded everything but the thought of themselves and their property. In every excavation and hole throughout the north beach householders buried household effects, throwing them into ditches and covering the holes. Attempts were made to mark the graves of the property so that it could be recovered after the flames were appeased.” It is interesting that he has used the word “graves” as if the objects had a life once. Implicitly, Morris has assigned to the households a higher level of importance.

 

3.     Objects from Altadena

 

A shrine that must be in good condition in the aftermath of Altadena wildfire. March 2025. Photo by Myriam Mahiques

Local art among the ruins of Altadena, March 2025. Photo by Myriam Mahiques

 

 

The Installation “Recycled Words” at the Manitoba Museum was the work of KANVA, a group of young architects in Montreal. Curator Maureen Matthews proposed words on the chairs to provoke thoughts. 2015.

The installation shown above reminds us of the single chair “exposed” among the ruins of the wildfire in Altadena. This chair might have been on a porch.  We see it as a gloomy sculpture that carries a memory of the past life in this burnt house. 

A single chair on the new lawn after the rain. Altadena, March 2025. Photo by Myriam Mahiques. 

In Los Angeles wildfires of 2025, lots of individuals grappled with what they wanted to take with them; the difficult selection lasted just a few minutes. From Gillan Telling’s article “What They Grabbed in the L.A. Fires and Why: Tender Stories from Those Who Left Almost Everything Behind (January 12th, 2025), we cite Sloan Pechia’s story who, apart from a letter from her late grandmother, she carried a poem from a book: “I also took the poem “Imagine a Woman,” which was sent to me in a letter from my mom during my freshman year of college. Reading it and reminding myself that I’m strong is why I thought to take it during these incredibly trying times.”

Valuable personal items that Sloan Pechia took with her during the wildfire evacuation.  Photos by Sloan Pechia.

This is not that everyone has the chance to survive a catastrophe. Regarding this, we recommend reading the work of the Lucy Easthope, a British expert and adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery.  A great part of the management post-catastrophe is the removal of personal effects that may be returned to a bereaved family. “The item may have little or no monetary value but may mean everything to a grieving family; or to a survivor struggling to make sense of terrible events.” (Easthope, 2019). As we have seen in the Los Angeles wildfires, without an “ethic of care” from all responders, the personal effects are indiscriminately removed to landfill or even incinerated.

 “(…) response plans should therefore aim to prioritize personal effects with a principal aim to identify, locate and restore personal property in a timely and accurate manner that allows survivors and bereaved to make as many of their own choices as possible.” (Easthope, 2019).

It is recommended that strategies for devolution and restoration be devised to enable survivors to exercise decision-making authority over their valued possessions, which hold intrinsic and emotional significance. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baudrillard, Jean. The System of Objects. London, 2020. 

Bohme, Gernot. The theory of atmospheres and its applications. Translated by A. Chr. Engels-Schwarzpaul. In Interstices Journal of Architecture and Related Arts. Issue 15. 2014-03-18

Easthope, Lucy. The meaning of “things”. The evolution of an ethic of care in the return of personal effects after disaster 2001-2019. P. 122-128. In Bereavement Journal.org. 2019.

Howes, David. Sensorial Investigations. A history of the senses in anthropology, psychology, and law. The Pennsylvania State University Press. 2023.

Morris, Charles. The San Francisco Calamity by Earthquake and Fire. Told by Eye Witnesses. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, ca. 1906.

Telling, Gillian. “What They Grabbed in the L.A. Fires and Why: Tender Stories from Those Who Left Almost Everything Behind”. People.com. January 12^th, 2025.   

NOTE: this post is also published on AIA Los Angeles blog.

https://www.aialosangeles.org/news/news-and-blogs/

Thoughts about "Hoarders"

Many years ago, one of my posts was about people with compulsive behavior keeping lots of staff inside and around their homes. I'm not a psychologist and I saw this from the point of view of a morphologist, just the occupation of the architectural space.

We had a client, back in 2012, owner of an important house, who used to fill up the rooms with vintage objects, up to the ceiling. She had some illegal constructions and upon comparison with the inspector's pictures, we discovered the owner was relocating stuff and even windows and doors. 

I was surprised, being this my first experience with hoarders. I offered her to buy a nice vintage jar, and she reluctantly sold it to me while warning me "be careful, that's the way you begin to pick up". 
She made the effort to have her legalization plans prepared soon, but she decided not to submit them. After a few meetings with the City inspector, the planner and the City attorney, and due to the inaction on her side, she was arrested and put in jail. Until her brother came back from Europe and got everything done: plans got approved, a contractor was hired to fix the house, which was deeply cleaned, and she was sent to hospital. I don't know what happened then, but I promised the brother to keep the original plans of the house.
Now, trashing old plans I had in a closet, I couldn't get rid of this house blue prints (they are genuinely blue), out of respect for my compromise.

Back in 2018, we had another experience, more serious this time, and the contractor taught me the word: "hoarder". He cleaned part of the house to allow us to take the overall dimensions.

All the time I was wondering how they could live in these conditions where all type of objects, clothes, toys, food etc etc was piled up everywhere.

The lady homeowner had psychological problems, but the husband, after many years of living under the circumstances, seemed to be submissive and in full acceptance of the unhealthy environment.

The son, had a separate clean room and bathroom for himself, like a bubble in a sea of trash.

In my experience, the family accepts the situation and everyone tries to create an independent personal space in the house. This is the best thing they could do.

There's currently a series on Netflix called "Hoarders" which captured my full attention. Not that I like the style of "Big Brother" show, I would have preferred a documentary instead of a sort of short performed novels about the disease.

What is stated is that 19M people in the USA suffer from hoarding disorders. And they are showing some extreme examples.

It seems to be a common factor, which is the lack of interest of the son/daughter in a long period of years. They go away from home, being incapable of dealing with their parent/s disorder and when they come back (they are brought back in the "show") they are repentant they have not seen or realized what was going on inside the house in question. Or with the person in question.

It feels weird to me that a son or daughter does not know how the parent is living this way for so long years, but not all families are the same.

Grievances and tears are abundant and worst of all -in my opinion- is the participation of a licensed psychologist who admonishes the hoarder, in the effort of making him/her realize of his/her bad doings, and what is more, she gives a public diagnostic of the psychological health of the hoarder. 

Which doctor would publicly state the patient's diagnostic openly to the world???? "It's a mental illness!" That is stunning, at least in my mind. And of course I am not criticizing her experience and wish to help, it's just I would have preferred more privacy for the addicted.

Of course, she appears to be a counselor and they are not her patients. And I'm assuming the family is being paid to show all the procedures for the extreme cleaning up in a very short period of time, let's say three days, before Code Enforcement shows up. And this is never enough.

An interesting "legality," is that the cleaners must not take the junk away unless the owner gives them permission. Which is very difficult because what is junk for some, is precious to others. If the hoarder does not allow the removal of objects/ trash, then it could be considered a robbery.

A case that has made me sad, so far, is Patricia's, a lady from Indiana, whose house is deeply full of trash accumulated along 30 years, infected by rats, dogs and human feces, the house is collapsing due to the extra vertical loads and all its component materials are biohazardous given the feces and rotten organics have been absorbed by walls, flooring, foundation. The house is unsafe and worth demolition, but at the end we learn Patricia comes back and her son in law (or so relative) is making some improvements in the house to leave it "somehow" habitable. Because that's the main point, is the hoarder able to live back in the house? Is he /she able to get his/her pets back?

Can he or she be treated or is it a sort of dementia? And it is clear that the whole close family needs therapy.

Coming back to Code Enforcement, they shouldn't let the hoarding reach such a critical point because setting aside the decrease of the property(ies) value, it's absolutely unsafe and contaminating. It seems to me they do not notify the family, but just the homeowner, who cannot understand what is wrong.
In the cases I personally know, not a single social worker was sent to the property. It was all related to the building, to the construction. I see it as a weak point.

NOTES: 
All pictures are screen shots from the "Hoarders" show on Netflix.
On episode 5, another doctor is presented: psychiatrist Melva Green, who has shown a lot of support and compassion. And she helps the hoarders (two of them) to get to the root of their problem which -apparently- is a consequence of their poverty in childhood. 

Some Surrealist images of Nostalghia, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

The birds flying from the Virgin's womb

Many architects are fans of Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, because of the lighting, the water and surrealism in his movies, regardless the plot. A favorite one is Stalker, though I liked Nostalghia best, which seems to be his most personal movie, about his feelings at his exile in Italy.

For those who want to read more about the film,  here's an interesting review in Slant Magazine, and I have to warn you, the author confuses the name "Gorchakov" with "Gorbachov" in the last paragraphs, there's nothing to do with the former president:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/nostalghia

The images here are screen shots from my computer. 

The beautiful chiaroscuro

The mirrors

The abandoned

The indoor water reflexes, the interiors

From an architectural point of view, what I enjoy most, is the intertwined spaces, the interior and exterior, the buildings have no roof, and when they have it, the rain pours down leaving the floor as a lagoon, the vines grow inside/outside and we have a few hints of where the characters are, as they are -sometimes- shown against the bright exterior light.

The indoor water reflexes, the interiors

The indoor water reflexes, the interiors. Tarkovsky barely uses color in this movie. 

The free standing door is opened to go through "one space to the other" or "one room to the other".

The picture above shows exactly this confusion of spaces. The door has only its frame, but there is no division between rooms, it's a big space that could be virtually divided by columns and some furniture. But see, the lunatic is using the door to pass through, curiously, there's no water behind the door, but a basin that is part of the group of basins that are meant to keep the rain water, of course, an impossible task.

The beautiful streets in Italy, the old, the decayed.

The young girl amidst the old and the decayed. The vines grow outside/inside

The lonely streets

The wardrobe, a displaced element in the street where Gorchakov sees himself in the reflex of the lunatic. 

The church without roof. Always this idea of interior-exterior

People in the public building's staircase, like floating in the air. It reminds me of Rene Magritte's painting, "Golconda." 

Gorchakov's house in Russia is superimposed to the open church in Italy. The mixed feelings of the exile, the memories, that include the dog. The reflex of the Gothic windows on the water, as an impossible effect, given they are so far.

The adoration of the Virgin who gives " pregnancy." 

Is Mc Donald´s flag comparable to the USA flag?

When my husband is driving and I´m next to him, I usually read, and look through the window to learn  more about cities and inhabitants. Last weekend, I took this quick shot of the well known fast food chain, because I was surprised to see the three flags together: United States, California and Mc Donald´s.

And I was laughing at the implicit meaning, so, the three of them have the same symbolism, are they equal or similar in their importance?

Or is it showing a food ideology for the whole country?

At least the USA flag was in the middle :) Welcome, this is America!

Pictures of the Cristo Redentor: the restoration works

I´m sharing these wonderful pictures of the restoration works at the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, from the link below, which also has a brief explanation in Spanish.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1657479-como-son-los-trabajos-de-restauracion-del-cristo-redentor

I was lucky to see it myself, long years ago, 1987, in a vacation trip to Brasil, and it´s amazing.

That´s weird that today I have some patches of memories, but they are not focused on the Christ, but on the Corcovado Morro where it stands, and I can also remember the beautiful design of sidewalks, the exuberant vegetation in the morros, the artisans´ fair, the religious objects left in some corners, the happiness of people singing and playing drums, the bright white sands, and the sun, so hot to burn the skin. For some reason, though I was already an architect, I didn´t pay too much attention to the colorful slums, maybe I was too busy enjoying the vacation.

I hope I could go back some day and enjoy the city as an architect, not a tourist!

El lenguaje complejo del arquitecto

Architect´s bingo card. Por Bob Borson

Estaba leyendo un post de Bob Borson sobre las palabras que usan los arquitectos, en su sitio Life of an Architect , y no pude más que reír ante la tarjeta ¨Bingo¨ de arquitectos. Vamos a traducir:

Yuxtaposición, grilla escocesa, jerarquía (una palabra que tanto uso para trabajar con fractales), simetría, claridad, tectonicidad, textura, biomímica, curvilinear, aventanamiento, partido, articulación, masividad, diagrama, pilotes, cáscara, procesión, truncado, forma, emerger, folly: -no encuentro una traducción adecuada en nuestro idioma, es una obra de arquitectura sin sentido-, uniformidad, balance.

El post me hizo reflexionar sobre anécdotas de mi vida, y no siempre profesional. El lenguaje se va incorporando y enriqueciendo con neologismos, casi sin darnos cuenta, y no importa con quién hablemos, nos fluyen las palabras con las que intentamos describir un edificio o una idea. El planteo de Bob es cierto: los clientes no entienden el léxico y cuando pensamos que nos lucimos, pues no, el cliente se retira, enmudece o corta. O hace preguntas para disimular su desconocimiento.

Esta semana, por ejemplo, me llamó un constructor para realizar un plano de hardscape o construcción del paisaje. Para poder pasar mis honorarios, le pregunté si además necesitaba una tabla con los nombres científicos de las especies. Ante el silencio, me dí cuenta de mi error, y traté de llevar la conversación por caminos más conocidos.

Otro problema del cual siento ¨mea culpa¨ es la respuesta via email, las explicaciones técnicas. 

Siendo investigadora formada, y llevando tantos años en obra, solucionando problemas, mis respuestas son muy precisas, estrictas, más bien como reportes. Una vez un cliente me dijo que mis emails sonaban ¨agresivos¨, sin serlo. Desconcertada, le redirigí mi email a mi esposo, -arquitecto-, y le pregunté qué pensaba, dónde estaría la cuestión. Y me respondió, que en la modalidad estadounidense, primero debiera ¨deshacerme¨ en saludos, amabilidades, luego escribir con más naturalidad (domesticidad) y no parecer un abogado; el final del texto debe ser igualmente florido y con extensos agradecimientos, saludos y buenos deseos. He de practicar este año para mejorar mi comunicación virtual.

Una ¨desestructura¨ (mi neologismo) de palabras que hice con una muestra de Piet Mondrian en NY

Otra de mis ¨desestructuras¨.

Volviendo al teléfono, algunos -un 50% diría- señores mexicanos me han cortado, sencillamente porque no reconocen que una mujer de explicaciones técnicas; en general preguntan por mi esposo, siento la frustración si ¨él¨ no se encuentra y soy afortunada si logro continuar la conversación; el mes pasado, no obstante decir que era su socia, un señor pregunta ¨pero Ud sirve el café o atiende el teléfono?.¨

Daré otros ejemplos de palabras, algunas también mencionadas en las divertidas tarjetas de Bob, y si Ud lector es arquitecto, será bienvenido a agregar otras:

Formal, conglomerado y aglomerado (en fractalidad hay diferencias, la traducción general al inglés sería clusters), tensores, cerchas, secuencia, orden, ambientalismo, medio ambiente, miembros estructurales, transición, mallas, grillas, gestos, geotérmico, miesiano, corbusierano, Corbu, racionalismo, sustentable, retórica, complejidad, cantilever, fundación, bases corridas, integración, configuración, fondo y figura, contextualismo, espacialidad, mancha de aceite, conectores, grafos, sistema, tejido urbano, historicismo,  edificios inteligentes, etc.....

Conclusión: nada mejor que un dibujo claro y sencillo para expresarnos con quienes no son nuestros colegas. Al respecto, estoy haciendo una colección de ilustraciones arquitectónicas en Pinterest, de las cuales extraigo ¨A Hill with a Hole¨, posteada previamente por Endless forms most beautiful en Flickr. El trabajo pertenece a los artistas rusos contemporáneos Brodsky y Utkin.

Homeless in the Central Park of Huntington Beach (!)

This picture was downloaded to my National Geographic account, here

http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/profile/285029/#

The Library and Central Park of Huntington Beach, Southern California, is one of my favorite places.

I've been there many times, buying books and taking pictures everywhere, in different seasons.

Sometimes we go for a walk with my husband, like anybody else in Huntington Beach, because this is not a park for tourists, but for the neighbors, and we are proud of its beauty and peace.

Today, I went alone, and decided to venture away from the walkways to take different pictures from the ducks and landscape. I wanted to focus in textures and fallen Eucalyptus. 

The first things that caught my attention were pretty worn out clothes hanging from the trees. That was unusual because there are no seats around, and people were away from this spot.

Then, I walked to the new circle of pine trees and went to the woods in the area surrounding the lagoon. A jade green pond was bright and beautiful with moss and I got closer to take pictures of it. I was surprised to see the blue and the red of someone's belongings, plus a sign and a big picture frame. That was a nice composition for my shot, the first one I have here.

But when I looked up, I saw in astonishment that more colorful things were everywhere, clothes, toilette paper, bottles, plastics, etc. as you can notice in the following pic, though I wouldn't dare to go farther, just in case. Music was being played from a radio, coming from this spot. A hidden place for homeless.

I've felt somehow nervous, evaluating my situation. A lady alone, inside the woods, if something happened, who could hear me? I went back to the library and on my way I managed to take more pictures, there are narrow paths that lead to areas enclosed by nature, and every time I could see covers, toilette papers, bags, remains of human habitat. In another wood, children were playing seek and hide with plastic guns, pure fun, unaware of the homeless protected by the wet and dense trees. And of course, the worn out clothes were still hanging on the Eucalyptus after my long walk.

Here I am sharing my pictures, even graffiti I've found on the trees. I've spoken to the person in charge of the Library security and he said, I know, and this is not one person, there are four over there, another two....etc. Now I was upset. So, did you know it already?

The security guard said as they are not inside the Library area, the problem belongs to the police department, and that when they are called, they make a few tickets, get rid of the homeless and then, they immediately come back to their settlements. And there is still more, people living in their RVs at the parking lots under the trees. Though there were complaints, they would stay the whole day, it doesn't matter if the park is closed at night.

And I insisted, don't you think it's dangerous? (He totally agreed with me). Who could hear if something happens in the density of the trees? I am not against the homeless, but when they are on the streets, you can watch their behavior, they are exposed.

In Huntington Beach Central Park there is no way they could be exposed, not them, not anybody who would venture to come across with them. What happens after the park is closed? Who knows. Maybe they are just poor people, it doesn't mean they are dangerous. But maybe not.

I have to confess it took me by surprise. Huntington Beach is a very safe city, not to be compared with any other in Los Angeles County. I remember once, two kids were about to fight in the corner of my house, there were a few more surrounding them. A neighbor called the police and there were police cars and a helicopter in minutes. Just for a kids fight!

The Security guard suggested me to contact the police as a citizen, do not send them emails or do not call them, speak to them directly, show them the pictures and please do us this favor. If the citizens complain, they will have more power than us public employees.

I've not contacted the police yet, but I'll do, and most probably I will update this post.

If you reader, are living in Huntington Beach, and like to walk in the park with your family, please be aware of this situation and help us to denounce it. Let's keep this city as safe as always and let's help the homeless to live in better places than the lagoon surroundings.

Your comment is very welcome!.

Dark Days, an urban-social documentary

Some months ago I´ve read The Manhattan Hunt Club (2001), a novel by American writer John Saul. The plot is really entertaining but most of all, I liked his description of the homeless living in the subterranean trains tunnels of New York.

Yesterday, I´ve watched Dark Days (2000), a documentary directed by Marc Singer, that shows the lives of those who dwell in an abandoned New York city railroad tunnel, and it seems to me that John Saul has been highly inspired by this film. Even, the great words that I supposed belonged to him ¨a houseless is not a homeless,¨  or similar, were stated by one of the dwellers, at the beginning.

There is also a woman, crying for her lost child, the cooking, the drugs, comradery, fights and explanations of ways of earning some money.

The film, that has won many festival awards, is sometimes criticized because of the blurry images and the sound, but after all it is a great testimony of the habitat and lives of underground inhabitants who feel they do have a home, a subject that is also present in Saul´s novel. 

Today, I´m sharing some screen shots I´ve taken from my computer. My recommended for architects and sociologists.