Robert Witczak

SPECTACLE OF ABSENCE . Experimental preservation competition

design team: Robert Witczak . Politechnika Wrocławska . + 120 Hours

Current ideas of preservation lead us to a very absurd point. More and more buildings are becoming subjects of conservation. We cannot let everything that we call architecture last forever. Nowadays, we should redefine our approach to preserving a cultural heritage, indeed.

The key to preserving is not in the building itself but in understanding of value it represents. The task which we face is to find out specific qualities and expose them in the permanent and sufficient way
Instead of forcing immediate solution for Pyramiden and its program we focused on a history of this place. That has been an specific example of socialist system behind the Iron Curtain. Project is based on creating a border around the abandoned soviet community. This symbolic and rhetorical curtain evokes the presence of the socialism outside its territory. The spectacle of absence is framed by circular space. As long as it will last, this part of history will be permanent. Emptiness is the one and only actor on this stage.
Project suggests to reflect on the contemporary idea of architectural preservation- not all of it needs to be maintained. Sometimes it is not about architectural heritage itself but about creating some kind of scenario which lets it to exist.