It is well established that emotion contributes significantly to learning processes, and architecture, in turn, has the power to evoke emotions. The purpose of a memorial is to preserve in collective memory events—often painful—in order to learn from them and prevent their recurrence.
The military dictatorship that Chile endured for 17 years, beginning with the coup d’état in 1973, left a trail of crimes and bloodshed that went largely unpunished.
This proposal presents an architectural narrative that, through spatial experiences associated with different emotions, conveys in a visceral manner one of the darkest episodes in the country’s recent history. Its aim is to honor the victims and offer solace to their families.
The journey is conceived as an exercise in spatial introspection, withdrawing from the mundane level of the city toward a more intimate realm of visual and auditory silence. From the outside, the museum appears as a clean, monolithic volume emerging from the ground within an esplanade that incorporates an existing memorial. Its materiality consists of black granite, engraved with the names of the 235 disappeared victims and 155 executed citizens during the dictatorship in the Bío-Bío region. The roof of this volume, which houses the exhibition, is a reflecting pool that uniformly cascades over the inscribed walls, accompanying the descending ramp that serves as the museum’s sole entrance. This ramp envelops the hermetic and mysterious volume, guiding visitors in a processional preamble that prepares them for the exhibition. The flowing water serves a dual purpose: protecting the walls from vandalism and accompanying visitors emotionally. The water’s path leads to the entrance hall, where it culminates. At this point, the program divides into two parts: the exhibition and the administrative area.
The exhibition hall comprises an informative route with four rooms representing four key moments: the situation prior to the coup d’état, the coup itself, the military dictatorship, and the return to democracy.
The administrative area contains complementary programmatic functions arranged around a naturally illuminated square courtyard, which reflects the sky through a water mirror that concludes the water’s journey.
Project: Museum of Memory and Human Rights, Bío-Bío Region
Client: Ministry of Public Works
Architect: Albert Tidy
Collaborators: Cristóbal Riffo, Ken Qiu Sun, Loreto Cerda
Location: Concepción, Bío-Bío Region, Chile
Area: 1,160 m²
Materiality: Reinforced concrete, glass, black granite
Project Year: 2016