Between memory and re-generation.

The intertwining of industrial memory and historical memory has given rise to a new project for the Oskar Schindler factory in Brnenec. The design process goes through three phases that see the re-functionalization and re-activation of valuable buildings, the re-use of productive buildings and the re-design of the new residential village.

The intervention on the area starts from the desire to save Schindler’s Ark where 1200 Jews were saved from certain death during World War II. The studies done on the site have led to thinking about a new network of routes and links making the area permeable thanks to the design of new entrances located in multiple points. The intervention took place in three steps: the part of the restoration, designed for all the buildings of the North, which involves creating a museum and a memorial to remember the survivors through the environments where they have been. Continuing we confront the theme of reuse: the large factory built more recently and also left in a state of neglect needs to return to operation offering the town new points of interest and opportunities. To conclude the path to a new life, the imaginary time line arrives in the southernmost part of the lot for which the pilot project of a small experimental residential village has been thought, self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable that became the second innovative agent for the entire area. The historical part provides for the reopening of the original entrance with immediate access to the square. This evocative entrance serves to make us reflect, discuss, think about what happened. After crossing the initial part continuing southwards we find ourselves in front of the memorial: a labyrinth made with 1200 circular elements symbolizing the 1200 survivors. On the West side we find the factory brought back into use with its main function of textile production with the insertion of trees inside to ensure a sustainable environment and low CO2 impact. Continuing the route between the buildings connected to the factory through an urban gallery, we find a guest house, with dormitories for students and visitors to the site, and a building with a bar. Crossing the road you enter the new small village. The houses are designed on two floors distributed following the course of the territory each with its own greenhouse and its water collection system.