INTERPRETING WHAT IT MEANS TO LOVE THROUGH THE ARCHITECTURAL OBJECT

A CASE STUDY OF MUSEUM DAERAH KABUPATEN LANGKAT

Abstract

This comprehensive research paper presents an exhaustive theoretical exploration of "love" as an ontological and architectural act of total acceptance. By synthesizing advanced architectural theory with profound emotional philosophy, the research investigates the transition of the architectural object from its pristine inception into a state of inevitable decay. This temporal and physical journey is symbolized throughout the paper by the poetic allegory of the "red rose" transforming into the "blue rose." The red rose represents the unblemished youth of an object, past experiences, untarnished memories, and things that are ultimately impossible to hold onto as time progresses. The blue rose, conversely, represents the inevitable decay, the shifting of physical form, atmospheric weathering, and ultimately, our own mortality. Love, within this theoretical framework, is radically redefined not as a nostalgic desire for static preservation or a return to an idealized past, but as the active, unconditional embrace of what a building has become. Through the specific case study of Museum Daerah Kabupaten Langkat, located in Tanjung Pura, North Sumatra, Indonesia, this philosophy is grounded in physical reality. The paper employs Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic model of semiotics (Sign, Object, Interpretant) as its primary methodological framework, mapping the museum's transition from its former glory as the Sultanate's Grand Council to its current, weathered state. The physical scars of the museum its altered dome, its replaced windows, and its aging Tuscan columns are decoded as vital signifiers of its ongoing historical narrative rather than mere structural failures. The resulting thesis postulates that to love an architectural object is to accept its transience. By critiquing the impulse of false restoration, the paper argues that cherishing a building's decayed reality is the ultimate expression of architectural love, a profound acceptance that recognizes our own mortality while simultaneously propelling life and architecture forward into the promise of future red roses.