Behind That Locked Door

Archives Between Hoarding and Surveillance

Abstract

The essay explores the archival space through a collection of photographs taken within the walls of Milanese archives. The accompanying text guides a deeper understanding of the contradictory nature of these spaces, which are simultaneously repositories of memory and instruments of control.

We are invited to consider how archives, from traditional ones to contemporary data centres, attempt to shape the flow of time, bridging past and future while compressing entropy within their carefully ordered settings. As we navigate the shelves and file cabinets, we witness an obsessive impulse to accumulate, hoard, and control information – an echo of our data-driven society.

The photographs, taken during site visits in autumn 2024, offer a peek into the hidden spaces where the past is preserved, the present is controlled, and the future is designed. Through them, we explore the spatial nature of memory, the power of surveillance, and the legacy we leave behind.