The Road

The work touches an aspect of the commemoration of sites related to the Holocaust, referring to the concept of anti-monument and Oskar Hansen's theory of Open Form. The work is an attempt to find a way of preserving a memorial site by linking architecture to the landscape and creating relationships that are carriers of events and changing activities.

The site of the former Treblinka camps seems to be "at the end of the world". The camps are hidden in a dense forest, far from any human settlements. It is rare to see another human being there and even rarer to see an organized tour. Finding the silence of Treblinka to be the strongest carrier of the horror of the events of 80 years ago, the author tries to preserve it at all costs. The proposed design solution is the Road - a 2,860-meter-long line running from the edge of the forest to the Execution Site. The Road, while maintaining its uninterrupted straightness, runs through or right next to the most significant locations in the study area: Extermination Camp, Labor Camp, Execution Site and the former Gravel Pit, crossing the Black Road twice. In this way, the goal of finding a common denominator and linking all areas spatially and functionally together is achieved. The proportions of the Road mean that it is not visible in its entirety from any location - the exception is the bird's-eye perspective, in which the design takes the form of a clear sign in the field, a line crossing the remains of the camps. The overall rule is to keep the design non-interference with the remains of the camps and the existing monument. Following the postulates of Oskar Hansen's Open Form theory, The Road acts as a frame for the landscape and events in its space. Using minimalist forms, it moves away from its dominant position, giving the main role to nature and man. The road acts as a guide, highlighting the most significant parts of the Treblinka camps area, while at the same time allowing one to go off it and, through the numerous forest paths, discover the large area in an individual and specific way for each visitor. The nearly three-kilometer-long Road is divided into five chapters, corresponding in their content to the areas they cross. The chapters are named: Abyss, Pandemonium, Oblivion, Trace and Silence. The volume part of the Road containing the museum is the chapter one.