A Vision For Brněnec

Project idea

As the site is a contemporary witness from various eras, primarily to the good deeds of Oskar Schindler, but no evidence of its use as the Brněnec concentration camp is recognisable, the challenge lies in working out the various emotions, events and memories that took place in the period between October '44 and May '45. The focus of the analysis is the memory of the events.
Many emotions, events and memories are contained within the buildings and the square, but there is no evidence of them. Only traditions from letters and eyewitness describes the events. This is where the concept of the culture of remembrance comes in. Essentially, it is about building blocks that promote remembrance in order to convey and manifest what happened.
There are various ways of remembering, often by creating anomalies in structures, such as knots in cloth or notches in wood. Certain events reinforce the memory. The knot is symbolic here as a moment of remembrance. The culture of remembrance on topics such as the Second World War and the Holocaust is primarily intended to freeze the eyewitness accounts and pass them on to new generations. What happened plays a major role here.
Particularly with regard to the question of guilt, it is also important to understand that we are not directly to blame for what happened, but that we are responsible for passing on memories and ensuring that the deeds of the Second World War never happen again.
The buildings in Brněnec are a place of remembrance of what happened, which means that they themselves become an exhibition and thus a reminder.

Project description

In addition to preserving the buildings and passing on Schindler's legacy, the aim is to encourage a revitalisation of the site. The memory of what happened has a direct influence on our lives today, which is why the Museum of Survivors can also form the basis for the revitalisation of the site. Right next to the Schindlers Arc is the starting point for the conversion and redesign of a new hub that will make up the new town centre of Brněnec. The hall will serve as a new community space in the form of a restaurant with an adjoining garden and a market hall. Alongside Schindlers Arc, the new hub marks a new turning point in Brněnec history.

Technical information

For the exhibition, we envisage a clear route through the site. The 3-senses principle plays a major role here - seeing, hearing and feeling. The focus is on becoming part of the history by experiencing the site in its entirety.

Ideally, visitors should arrive from the area of the former railway station, which is located on the other side of the river to the north of the factory site. A new bridge over the Zwitava provides access to the Museum of Survivors via the 1960s building in the rear eastern section. Here you enter the foyer. An opening in the ceiling at the front increases the amount of sunlight and light intensity in the foyer. A counter welcomes visitors. After purchasing a ticket, visitors can enter the museum directly through the foyer; alternatively, the museum education centre is attached to the foyer.
In the museum the former openings of the turbines in the ceiling are still visible in the exhibition hall. These are covered with fabric so that video recordings or voice recordings can be played in various compartments in this part of the museum.
A small passageway leads to the intermediate joint between the Turbine Hall building and the Schindler's Arc Museum. The intermediate ceiling of the room was removed in favour of a two-storey structure and better light incidence. This also counteracts the effects of moisture. The room serves as a memorial and is intended as a resting point and hub between the museum and the preserved Ark building. From the memorial room, the other floors can now be accessed barrier-free via a newly created stairwell centre. A small neighbourhood library is also located on the ground floor.
On the first floor, visitors can obtain further information on the various items on display in the museum. The museum's administration is also located in the eastern area of the first floor. The visit to the museum ends via the new staircase centre in the direction of the main building - the Ark.
When you leave the museum through the secure door, you also leave the paid area. Sound recordings of workers or noises such as metalworking are intended to give visitors the opportunity to form their own picture of what happened. It is important to mention that the old Schindler buildings have free access for everyone. In this way, visitors to the monuments can always take a look at the buildings around Schindler himself. When you leave the Schindlers Arc building, you will find yourself standing on the ring place and are surrounded by all the important buildings. The front façades retain their lost place character. The respectful treatment serves to avoid over-modelling the site and to ensure that the current state of affairs is accessible to all. Conservation is clearly in the foreground here. The transience of time is an important scenario at this location, which makes the way in which information is passed on to visitors all the more important.
Visitors can move freely through the German Building. In the room, which is around 7 metres high, the damaged walls have been preserved in their current state. A soundscape is also to be played here via loudspeakers. This could be marching steps or even orders from the SS commanders-in-chief or discourses between SS soldiers and Schindler.The Schindler's Office is also frozen in time and can be viewed from the side of the inner courtyard through the exposed windows; the entrance to this building is on the opposite side.
In the second phase of our masterplan for the area, a park structure with recognisable clods will be created further south, following the demolition of the Auto Barta building. One of these clods will house the new centre of the town of Brněnec. The Community Hub consists of a park in which various clods are arranged to form a new structure. The paths lead visitors to a level around 80 cm lower. One of the clods houses the Community Hub, which is half underground, with an adjoining restaurant and recreational areas for young and old. The green spaces make the site largely unsealed. The lower-lying building structure is set back from the Arc building and thus creates more open space.
Parallel to the construction of the new Community Hub, the warehouse on the western side of the site is also to be reactivated. As the textile factory is to regain a foothold here in the future, we envisage an interactive museum in the front area of the warehouse. In addition to the history of the Löw-Beer family, visitors will be able to make their own prefabricated bags, T-shirts or scarves and become part of the production process. A Repair Coffee located directly next to the museum is intended to strengthen the community concept. The design also proposes unsealing the area around the old pavilion in the east and making it accessible to the city's amenities. Urban gardening areas and greenhouses are to be located here, which, in addition to supplying the restaurant, will also provide an incentive for people to plant their own plants.
Wherever possible, all buildings should be sustainably supplied. Where possible, solar collectors are to be installed on the warehouse to supply the technology with electricity. Air heat pumps supply the buildings with heat in winter. All installations are visible so that the industrial charm is preserved.

This is the Vision for Brněnec.