Memory in Architecture

Abstract

This research is focused on several case studies, all contemporary architectural projects, dedicated to commemoration of different atrocities. The process of creating a memorial is bound up with a wide range of influences and affects, like any architectural project. However, building a memorial is further complicated due to the involvement of additional tasks such as preservation, representation or evocation of memory. All these aspects are usually contested notions, deeply embedded in the political and social contexts. Before assessing the case studies a large part of the thesis content is addressing several related issues in an interdisciplinary approach that includes psychology, philosophy, anthropology, political and social history as well as art and architectural history. A historical overview follows the development of the commemorative architecture before and after the two world wars as well as the upsurge in commemorative efforts after 1980ies. The case studies include 11M Memorial (2007) in Madrid’s Atocha station commemorating victims of the 11th March terroristic attack, Steilneset memorial in Vardø (2011) dedicated to the victims of witch-hunting, a comparative study of two memorial museums in Drancy (2012) and Mechelen (2012) both memorializing the Holocaust, Memorial to the abolition of slavery in Nantes (2012) and the International memorial to the First World War in Notre-Dame-de-Lorette (2014).