National Memorial Park

This award-winning design won the third prize in the Architectural Competition of the Recsk National Memorial Park. The Memorial Park exhibits the forced labor camp of Recsk and commemorates its victims. The labor camp, similar to soviet Gulag-camps, operated in the communist era near the village of Recsk, next to a quarry that mined andesite. In 1953 the surviving inmates were set free and forced to sign a statement of secrecy about their experiences. Most of the buildings were demolished and the campsite was planted with a dense artificial forest, but the efforts made to deny the existence of the terror were in vain. Even during the operation of the camp and also afterwards, news spread about it, in case of further interest, we recommend the novel ’My Happy Days in Hell’ by George Faludy, a famous Hungarian poet who was also an inmate in Recsk.

Our concept evokes the feelings of hopelessness and uncertainty that the inmates had experienced during their time in the camp. By arriving, visitors only see the entrance building, the barracks remain hidden from eyesight. The camp reveals itself gradually as the exhibition describes more and more about it. The path leading from the arrival through the exhibition is constantly descending. It is a stressful, monumental walk. The tower, the most articulated part of the building at first is unapproachable, it is a symbol of the former watchtowers but also the space for elaboration and absolution as well; to access it, one must reach the end of the path.

site: Recsk, Hungary type: new building status: competition plan year: 2020 size: m2 team: CZITA + Demény Ilka + Wallner Krisztina + Whitebox Visual + RJZS Architects