Symbolic Synagogue in Babyn Yar shortlisted for the international architectural award

08.09.2021, 20:25
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Symbolic Synagogue in Babyn Yar shortlisted for the international architectural award - фото 1
The symbolic synagogue "place for reflection", which was opened in May in Babyn Yar in Kyiv, was shortlisted for the award of the most influential architecture and design magazine Dezeen.

This is reported by Ukrinform citing the magazine's website.

The project is competing for the Dezeen Awards 2021 in the category of cultural buildings.

Along with the" place to think", the shortlist in this category includes three other objects in China – the Baoshan Exhibition Center, the Yabuli Conference Center in Harbin, the immortality Hall at Longshan Cemetery in Henan province, and the Pannar economics and Agriculture Training Center in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

In total, the publication identified 61 buildings in 12 categories of architectural projects.

We will add that on May 14, the day of remembrance of Ukrainians who saved Jews during World War II, the symbolic synagogue "place for reflection" was officially opened in Kyiv in Babyn Yar.

The art object in the form of a folding Panorama book was designed by Swiss architect Manuel Hertz, a professor at the University of Basel.

The building is 11 meters high. Like a book, it opens and closes using special mechanisms. The synagogue is decorated with patterns and texts of prayers that repeat the traditional painting of ancient synagogues in western Ukraine, destroyed during World War II and the Holocaust. The ceiling is decorated with drawings in the form of a map of the starry sky, reproducing the position of the stars on September 29, 1941 - the first day of the mass shootings in Babyn Yar. It is made of centuries-old oak wood, which symbolizes the connection between the tragic events in Babyn Yar and the present.