Yahidne村纪念综合体（雅希德涅村中学改造及纪念综合体）丨乌克兰切尔尼戈夫

MEMORIAL COMPLEX in Yahidne village, Chernihiv region, Ukraine

ІI place

An open all-Ukrainian architectural competition for the best concept of the ‘Reconstruction of the building of the Yahidnya Secondary School into an administrative building with the creation of a memorial complex at 1a Lisova Street in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv region’.

Architects: Guess Line Architects/ Andrii Lesiuk, Mykhaylo Kohut, Kateryna Ivashchuk, Yaroslav Ivaskiv, Yehor PerepeliukProject year: 2023Location: Yahidne village, Chernihiv region, Ukraine

Children's laughter used to be heard here, and now this place reminds us of the crimes of the russian occupation army. For a month, a school in the village of Yahidne became a concentration camp of the 21st century. The calendar on the basement door, where people sat without sunlight, air, food, water, or the possibility to lie down properly, contains the names of those who died there and those who were shot by the Russians. It's hard to imagine this happening today, but this is the reality we live in. And, unfortunately, this reality is the price to pay for the unlearned lessons of the past, where the ancestors of the same occupiers organised the Holodomor, took away people's property, banned our language and customs, destroyed the intelligentsia, and we turned a blind eye and believed in ‘brotherly nations’. Therefore, we cannot allow our children to forget and forgive what is happening now.

When creating the project, we wanted visitors to have an experience of emotional interaction with the future complex. The facades become clean and monumental to focus on the events that took place on the territory and inside the school. At the same time, the overall image and shape of the building remains. The museum becomes a combination of external and internal environments, where exhibitions tell people a story through sensations. In the basement, the inscriptions and drawings on the walls are preserved, and the things used by the residents during the occupation become part of the space. The installation of chairs and beds attached to the ceiling creates an atmosphere of tightness and lack of space, while the mattresses and boards on which people slept are stacked to create a sense of scale in relation to the room. The first floor combines exhibits from textbooks, maps, etc. that preserve the memory of the building's former purpose and the things left behind by the russians, which creates a sense of stark contrast. There will also be temporary exhibitions and the opportunity to screen films. In addition, the former boiler room will become a centre for audio and video materials. The dugouts and caponiers on the school grounds will become places reminiscent of the fighting, when the occupiers used the residents as human shields. There will be remnants of equipment and weapons. There will also be a place to commemorate the people who were shot and those who died from inhumane conditions.

In addition to the memorial function, the complex also has an educational function, with lecture halls for discussions, meetings, reflections, etc.; and a public function, with a rehabilitation space, a café, and a square in front of the building. This will make the project useful both for the whole country and for the local community in particular, as it will help fulfil its need for a space that will become a centre of attraction for residents.​​​​​​​