Reborn Schindler´s Ark

Faculty of Architecture and Design STU in Bratislava

Project idea

Location
Factory and brownfield are located in Brněnec village in Czech republic. It's closest neighbours are Brno and Olomouc city, accesable directly by a car or train. River Svitava and Bielsky potok surrounds village from the east and west.

Introduction
The concept of the proposed spaces is designed so that the visitor, experiencing various emotions in the given spaces, comes to a certain knowledge, understanding and awareness. Emotions play a key role in the art and architecture. Using interactive elements in design of expositions, helps to draw visitors action more intensively than during a classic museum tour. The overall essence of the design can be described as a journey from a negative to a positive emotion. Above all, it is about the feelings of empathy towards situations faced by workers in the factory during the Second World War. Starting from uncertain arrival to the site, where negative feelings prevailed, to leaving the ark with the hope of a new life. The design amplifies tension with alternation of narrow streets and big open spaces, materiality, shape of elements or the types of greenery used.


Urbanistic context of public spaces
Within the broader context, the design, with its materiality, construction principles and overall impression creates one complex design, divided into several smaller parts. The first, most representative part of the design is the paved square located between the Schindler's Ark, the Nazi soldiers' building and Oskar Schindler's office building. The main entrance was left unchanged at its original position. Throught the historical entrance we enter the square just like the workers during deportation. Visitors can easily reach it using reconstructed footbridge, which connects both shores of the Svitava River. The entrance to the area together with the square evokes negative feelings in the visitor, which begin to change after entering the Schindler's Ark building. In it, the visitor acquires a feeling of understanding and gets rid of negative emotions. The exhibition route leads the visitor to the embankment located in the northern part of the area. Here comes the time to realize all the acquired knowledge that the visitor experienced during the exposition. The embankment is arranged in such a way that people feel safe and calm in the given space. The visitor's space further leads through the newly designed green part of the planned territory to the third, last point of the design, where the space has a positive and joyful effect and evokes in the visitor a feeling of new hope and joy of life.

Project description

Materiality
The square, is the bearer of a negative emotion. The supporting idea of the design places steel panels modified by the process of controlled corrosion as a public space furniture. At different angles, they form a single line that guides the visitor from the main entrance, across the square to the Schindler's Ark building. Corten, as a naturally rusty material, symbolizes the dirt and evil of war. In combination with the rain, this material will naturally begin to rust and the rust will begin to spread over the paved surface of the square. Limestone cut paving , which with its white color symbolizes the purity and fragility of human life, is permanently damaged with the rusting process in the same way that war leaves scars on human souls. However, we can see the different level of paving damages as a fact that some people were affected by the war much more than the rest of society. The steel panel itself can be compared to the power of war and the ideology promoted with it, which creates an obstacle in normal life in the same way that the steel panel creates an obstacle in the view to all sides of the square. The most famous quotes from the Schindler's List movie are welded to the steel panels.

Waterfront concept
After exiting Schindler's Ark, the visitor is directly guided to the embankment of the Svitava River. The embankment should evoke an emotion of peace and security. A combination of a grassy surface with a walkable gravel layer meets to support the idea. The main point of the embankment is the residencial staircase made of limestone blocks, which is used for sitting by the water after completing the tour, sorting out thoughts and thinking calmly. The living staircase consists of three levels, each of which is accessible by one of two staircases located in stone blocks. Access to the water is also ensured by a wheelchair-accessible ramp. The second idea of the embankment is the modern art pavilion, which in its dimensions and position resembles the location of a small object belonging to Schindler's Ark, which in the past stood on this exact place. The pavilion is built of ceramic blocks with limestone cladding, which on the waterfront, in combination with contemporary art, symbolizes new hope for a better tomorrow. In addition to the residential staircase, seating is also provided by stone benches evenly distributed along the embankment.


Commercial area concept
The third part of the public space design consists of a concert pavilion with an associated area of greenery, new buildings with civic amenities and a commercial part of the area. The design transforms the original steel structure into a new function. After placing the greenery and roof, the steel structure becomes a pleasant place for the organization of various social events. In combination with a landscaped and greenery, this place evokes positive emotions in the visitor. The space is also complemented by minimalist mobile seating. As the production hall building built in the post-war period did not bring historical value to the area, the proposal considers the renovation and replacement of this building with three new buildings with civic amenities, which preserve the size of the original building.

Technical information

Schindler´s arch
Individual objects and exhibitions in the interiors are architecturally expressed in such a way as to strengthen a specific emotion of the journey concept. As part of the architectural concept, two open spaces were created by removing and setting aside mass. The first, by its representation, symbolizes the rupture and the void itself. It is the most dramatic part of the exposition. The second space, in contrast symbolizes a release of tension supported by surrounding greenery. It stands for calmness and hope for a better future. The journey begins in the residential building, which is an expression of tension and fear. There are traditional permanent exhibitions related to the life during war, europian history and present issues. Second building is entered through large exterior space, which by its character seems to be detached from the previous building. The most dramatic exposure of fear is placed here. Visitors than continue to the space which is an expression of tension. Semi-transparent milk glass panels blurs the view of what follows next. Following the journey, visitors finally come out of the dark to the hope, represented by the former production hall. This building was designed as a space for various big format interactive expositions. At this point the journey ends and the visitors continue to spread along the area, just like the survivors at the end of the war, each in a different direction. Here you can visit the cafe or the library in located in the second bouilding. It is also possible to get to the new designed extension of a factory hall through the corridor from the 2nd floor. When passing through the exterior, as with the first building, the visitor observes the surrounding greenery, which is a contrast to the void space. It is designed from white concrete and also represents hope. In terms of mass, it is a solid concrete cube, the roof plane of which leans towards the greenery on the eastern side of the area. It follows the character of the production hall and works with a skylight in the same module. For this object, natural light falling from above was designed, so that the large multifunctional hall could be sufficiently shaded if necessary. The visitors' journey culminates in the surrounding park and greenery with the possibility of a retrospective.