tomasz bekas _ architekt _ przestrzeń pamięci

SARP Diploma of the Year 2022

// SARP Diploma of the Year in honor of Zbyszek Zawistowski

"The results of the competition for the Annual Award of the Association of Polish Architects in honor of Zbyszko Zawistowski – Diploma of the Year 2022 were announced on October 7th. This award is granted to graduates who have obtained the title of Master of Architecture in a given year at a Polish university. The competition jury, consisting of Agnieszka Kalinowska-Sołtys (SARP President), Tytus Brzozowski, Karol Fiedor, Piotr Grochowski, Przemo Łukasik, Łukasz Modrzejewski, Adrian Burzyk (GEBERIT), Maciej Solarski (KLUŚ Inspiring Solutions), Marek Szeniawski (landscape architect - competition secretary), and Sylwia Gąsienica-Kleryk-Strynka (competition assistant secretary), assessed the works of 25 finalists on October 6th. After voting and discussions, the jury decided to award the Grand Prix and a prize of PLN 10,000 to Tomasz Bekas, the author of the work "Memory Space – Space Memory. Memorial site in the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Gross-Rosen in Rogoźnica." Additionally, three equivalent first-degree distinctions, each with a prize of PLN 2,500, were given to Katarzyna Krawczyk ("Architecture of Care. Regeneration of a dysfunctional residential estate on Opolska Street in Poznań"), Maria Lityńska ("Searching for the Identity of Jewish Architecture. Lost home of Polish Hasidic Jews – the project of a Hasidic center in Leżajsk"), and Paulina Pawlikowska ("Modernist Architecture as a Background for Modernization Actions. Revitalization of salt bathhouses in Ciechocinek"). Two equivalent second-degree distinctions with prizes of PLN 1,500 each were awarded to Karolina Grzesista ("Landscape of Transformations. Development of post-mining areas based on the urban-architectural concept of Bełchatów 2051") and Eryk Szczepański ("In Search of a New Dimension of the City. Spatial development project of Bytów as an element of the small Kashubian towns network").

// justification

In a world that easily forgets pain and suffering, where history teaches us nothing, and unmet needs destroy fragile peace, it becomes important to remind ourselves constantly. Forgetfulness erases the past, and without it, there can be no future. Memory Space – Space Memory is an attempt to preserve memory. Built on personal feelings and analytical experiences, the principle of emotional connections transforms into a poetic and subtle architectural intervention. Installations are created on the ruins of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, aiming to catalog emotions and experiences. In this context, the non-functional architecture is designed to provoke reflection. The result of encountering the space is clear and primitive emotions: fear, pain, suffering, compassion, and contempt. These liberated emotions, carried beyond the concentration camp, seem more important than the form of the objects. In this way, the memory of space is intended to stimulate and broaden the space of our memory.

// author's description

As explained by the author, the basis for taking up the topic was the question: Can memory of dark pages in the history of the world protect us from similar events in the future? The key aspect of the considerations was to examine the relationship between space and memory in the context of martyrdom sites, as well as the reception of both these realities by humans. The research focused on the analysis of the possibilities of using space as an imaginary design tool in semi-authentic places, and the developed methods served to create the design work. The focus on the emotional aspect of stimulus reception by humans allowed determining the model of relationships between memory and space, placing the visitor as the subject connecting these two realities. By using the developed methods, an attempt was made to supplement the lost tissue on the post-camp area [...]. Considering various contexts and the image of contemporary reality, we can see how much we underestimated such a perspective in recent decades as a society. The current world situation brings to mind the context of war, the lack of respect for individual life, and draws attention to the importance of preserving the still-living image of past events. Therefore, it is important to cultivate places that witness them.

The project is an attempt to touch upon the above topic, focusing on the area of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Gross-Rosen in the town of Rogoźnica. The area, due to many processes that have devastated its historical fabric, has become a place of marginal importance requiring special attention. A significant part of the traces from its operating period has been erased, and over time, further transformations occur. Thus, the question arose: how to deal with the existing space so that it constitutes an adequate place of memory, serving both respect for what has passed and contemporary visitors? The project became an answer to the search for relations between memory of past events and spaces that witnessed them. Focusing on the mutual impact of these two concepts, attempts were made to penetrate the essence of martyrdom sites. The accelerating pace of life, consumerism, overstimulation, and a decrease in social sensitivity led to a clear conclusion that physical contact with space becomes a necessity because the ability to experience difficult emotions requires creating an appropriate environment. Therefore, it is important to convey memory as something that can be experienced, detached from what we are accustomed to. The desire to recreate an adequate experience of memory, in the context of events that took place during World War II, directed the research towards the emotional experiences of the recipients. It was concluded that some of the emotions experienced at martyrdom sites coincide with those perceived in a broadly understood architectural space. By focusing on different types of emotions, a database of feelings accompanying them was created. The overarching goal and, at the same time, the project's idea was to stimulate these emotions using various architectural tools."

str. 102-103

publication no 339 _ 12/2022

project _ memories of space - spaces of memory

location _ rogoźnica, poland

architektura murator