mar parés baraldés

This Must Be The Place



This Must Be the Place was a theoretical, site-specific project using set design to explore the connections between family, home, and memory. Centered on the emotional void left by the loss of a home, the project was inspired by the now-demolished O’Rahilly House and my family’s own history. It examined how the destruction of heritage sites disrupts familial and cultural identity.

The O’Rahilly House, a historical site tied to the Easter Rising, symbolized both family legacy and national significance. Its demolition for development mirrored my family’s experience with the loss of El Fabregar, a family farmhouse that had served as a home to three generations. After an eviction notice, my mother and her siblings—the last generation to live there—spent a summer clearing the house. Given its remote location, the only viable method to dispose of belongings was by burning them. This act of destruction, paradoxically, became a defiant reclamation of agency. It turned loss into empowerment, laying the foundation for my project.
The design challenge was to evoke the emotions of loss and the power of destruction without necessarily rep­licating the physical act. The project aimed to create an experience where the audience could connect with the themes of agency and catharsis through destruction, particularly through the act of burning.

The design process for this project broke from my usual routines. I worked exclusively with images and collag­es, quickly sketching ideas into the site and placing ten times more emphasis on the audience’s experience. Through these images, I developed a deeper understanding of the message I wanted to convey and the expe­rience I aimed to create.The final set featured remnants from both lost houses, tak­ing the shape of the O’Rahilly House and incorporating the tiled floor of El Fabregar. A temporary wall made of wood­en bricks recreated the space, inviting the audience to pull apart the wall, one piece at a time, and write on the wood to claim ownership over it. The project culminated in the col­lective act of burning the wood pieces, which were piled up in the center of the space, now open for wider viewing. The audience became participants, engaging both individually and collectively in the act of reclamation and destruction.

This project was a personal exploration of memory, loss, and reclamation. Through design and audience engagement, it offered a powerful reflection on coping with loss and reclaiming our narratives.






Research, conceptualization, set design 
and model for a speculative production

Tutored by Owen Boss 

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