Restoration of the northern area of ​​the factory in Brněnec - Obnova severného areálu továrne v Brněnci

Project idea

Our goal is to create a cultural, work, and leisure centerpiece for the village and the surrounding area, attract the younger generation, spark their interest, suitably narrate the story of the site, and ultimately preserve and highlight the space's impact and its genius loci. The main idea behind our renovation is the symbol of the heart, as it reflects the legacy of Oskar Schindler, a man whose heart saved over a thousand other hearts. By creating a new heart (the heart of the village), we aim to bring life back to the abandoned site, which will naturally extend to the entire village.

Project description

We placed the heart of the site in the already mentioned square, which would be represented by an artwork in its center. From this point, the main pedestrian paths radiate like arteries, branching out and forming a traversable irregular network. The main pedestrian route connects the northern part of the site with the southern part, blending into a public space in the south, creating a transition between the developed area and the area designated for residential buildings. We create an entrance forecourt from the western part of the hall and make the hall accessible through two pedestrian corridors. We have created two parking areas: one in the north, adjacent to the museum section, and one in the south, in the renovated newer hall, which serves the social halls (in the southern part of the hall) and the startups for beginning entrepreneurs (in the central part) – units with light glass and non-glass partitions.

The main corridor in the central part of the hall passes between two modules with an exposed exhibition of the current state and further divides the gastro section. This way, visitors can reach the park. In the northern part of the hall, there are courses and workshops for both the general public and for pre-registered and paid participants interested in entrepreneurship. The eastern part houses educational spaces for pupils and students visiting the historical site, for instance, as part of a school trip or a camp.

The northern part of the site is dedicated to the history museum associated with it. Visitors enter the square and proceed to the infopoint, where they can purchase tickets for the tour. They then move on to Schindler’s Ark. On the first floor, they view an exhibition of the site during the ownership of the Low Beer family and experience an audiovisual exhibition focused on factory work before World War II. This exhibition is located in the new part of the hall, which was added at the end of the 20th century. The space is dark. Glass skylights with water, indicating their original use, are placed in the openings of the original vats where laundry was once done, casting water reflections into the first-floor space and enhancing the exhibition's atmosphere. On the second floor, visitors experience an exhibition of World War II survivors and proceed to an exhibition in the hall, where a brightly lit space with a canvas exhibition indicates the factory's functional role after World War II. The third floor houses an open exhibition of survivors' legacies. The tour in this building ends here, and visitors exit via the original staircase on the west side of the building. The tour continues to the SS guard building, which houses a Holocaust exhibition, and then to the building with an exhibition dedicated to Oskar Schindler.

We have retained the skeleton of the newer hall, which no longer stands, and used it as a park pavilion for a summer cinema. The park also includes a pedestrian walkway along the Svitava River and offers recreational, entertainment, and sports functions in the form of a children's playground and a workout area.

Technical information

Our renovation principle consists of restoring buildings with historical value to their probable original form, with added new shapes, copies, or new analogous elements designed according to patterns preserved in other buildings from that era. We are restoring the symmetry of the windows in the Ark, uncovering and renewing the brick cornices, and giving it new plaster (it was plastered in the past), with a shade differentiated from the plaster on the newer hall that was added to it. We are also restoring the façade of the large hall with a gabled roof, which is complemented by a row of divided windows.

The surfaces of the public spaces will feature light gray concrete paving on the main pedestrian walkways and compacted gravel on the secondary reinforced areas.

Documentation

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