The Mark That Remains

Project idea

An interpretation center designed on a former military arsenal and clandestine detention center site in San Miguel De Tucumán, Argentina, serving as a site of memory, trauma, and remembrance.

Project description

The Interpretation Center is designed with transitions between darker and lighter areas to represent difficult memories and the discovery of truth. Visitors pass through exhibition spaces that reveal stories, records, and experiences from history. The journey then opens into brighter spaces like the memory plaza and public areas, which allow reflection, learning, and discussion. It ends at the amphitheatre, where people can gather and share ideas, ensuring that these memories are not forgotten. Key spaces include: the Amphitheatre with 'Truth' engraved on seats that evokes visitors' views on history; the Memorial Art Gallery called 'Ground of Disappearance' with unstable floors marking the tragic experience of the people; the Memory Plaza featuring 'Figures of Memory' where the plaza becomes a landscape of human presence with bridge-like structures that ascend and descend like wavering emotions; and the Historical Exhibition Pavilion called 'Disoriented Truth' which becomes a disorienting maze that slowly descends underground, surrounded by walls made of archived memory.

Technical information

Located in San Miguel De Tucumán, Argentina on a 350 hectare site previously used as a military arsenal and army base (1976-1978). The site includes a 200m radius protected/sensitive zone. Key elements include Galpón 9 (main detention building), mass graves, and barracks buildings. Climate is subtropical humid with hot summers (30-40°C) and mild winters (10-20°C). Design elements include dripping water channels, echoing memory pathways, and narrow and massive structures and pathways. Circulation analysis addresses existing internal road networks based on military planning with pedestrian and vehicular paths.

Documentation

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