A memorial for the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust located in Bologna, Italy, built in less than two months that is distinguished by being emotional using the sensitivity to tell the past.

The project designed by SET Architects, the winners of the international contest for the realization of the monument of the Shoah of Bologna, is composed of two symmetrical steel parallepipeds of 10x10 meters that generate a route with the feeling of oppression. Inside there are a series of empty rectangular boxes that represent the cells of the dormitories in the concentration camps.
 

Description of the project by SET Architects

One year after the launch of the international competition for the realization of the Bologna Shoah Memorial, Rome-based office SET Architects, winneraccording to the jurypresided over by Peter Eisenman, delivers the Memorial on January 27th, 2016 –to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Built in less than two months, the Memorial is a recognizable landmark of great emotional power. It is located at the intersection of Via dé Carracci and Ponte Matteotti, a city square encompassed by the newly-installed high-speed train station of Bologna. This area is primed to become the new connective pole of the city. As such, the monument attracts passers-by, inviting them to reflect on the tragedy of the Holocaust.The Memorial is made up of two symmetrical cor-ten steel parallelepiped blocks of 10x10m each; the blocks sit adjacent to one another, perpendicular to the existing walls of the square. Their position converges to create a path, which begins with a width of 1.60m, drastically narrowing to just 80cm. The path generates an immediate feeling of oppression.

At the interior of the Memorial, the volumes present a grid of horizontal and vertical metal sheets which intersect at 90°, giving shape to a series of rectangular empty boxes of 1.80 x 1.25m –these boxes represent the cells of the dormitories in the concentration camps. The exterior façade of the Memorial overlooks the city, resembling a blank page –perhaps it is of a history yet to be written? And, along the perimeter of the cells, slight steel protrusions symbolize feelings of contemporary awareness.The choice of cor-ten steel is deliberate: it is a material that will naturally rust when exposed to open air. As the years pass its corrosion will display the vestiges of time, demonstrating that all things have a rich history behind them. The paving of the path between the two blocks is realized in ballast, basalt stone chippings typical of the roadbeds. This represents the Judenrampe (“ramp of the Jewish”), which was the name given to the trek prisoners made from Auschwitz I (Stammlager concentration camp) and Auschwitz II (Birkenau one).

The empty echoes of footsteps across the stones coupled with the restriction of the passage instills a keen sense of anguish: in this way the Memorial takes on life and evokes the drama of the memory.Further, light plays an essential role in the culmination of the monument. During daytime when the square is lit by sun’s rays, the passage becomes immersed in a dim, contemplative light, allowing the visitor to calmly reflect. Then at night, strategically placed artificial light illuminates the primary volumes, magnifing the majesty of the Memorial.In total, the Memorial, distinguished by its historical ambition, abandons rhetorical and didactic conventions in order to emphasize the importance of emotions: in this way SET Architects succeeded in designing a monument that utilizes present sensibilityto narrate the past.

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Architects
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SET Architects
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Client
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Comunità Ebraica di Bologna
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Project team
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Lorenzo Catena, Chiara Cucina, Onorato di Manno, Andrea Tanci
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Collaborators
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Structural engineering.- Proges Engineering - Ing. Andrea Imbrenda
General Contractor.- Sì Produzioni
Metalworking.- Officina Paolo Cocchi
Paving.- Edil Nuova S.A.S.
Lighting.- Erco
Model.- Francisco Muñoz Albarracín
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Site
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Via Giacomo Matteotti / Via dè Carracci, Bologna,Italy
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Year
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2016
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SET architects. is a young architecture, urbanism and design practice based in Rome, led by Lorenzo Catena, Onorato di Manno and Andrea Tanci. The design procedure is always supported by in-depth theoretical research based on the investigation of the essence of architecture and the elements that compose it. SET envisions an architecture that is able to communicate directly with those who live it. This is achieved by using elementary geometric shapes and paying attention to environmental sustainability through the experimental use of materials and technologies.

The studio believes in non-generic architecture capable of emerging as a cultural factor in the local context and preserving the uniqueness of places. Simplicity and clarity are key themes of the entire creative process, from the abstract idea to the design solution. SET has won many awards including: “Dedalo Minosse - Laboratorio Morseletto 2017”, “Lazio Creativo 2017”, “NIB New Italian Blood 2016 top 10 Architecture”. The work of the office and its partners has been featured in several venues and events (Spazio FMG - Milan, MAXXI - Rome, Wuho Gallery - Los Angeles) as well as in international publications.
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