How important is it for memorials to preserve the physical remains of the events they commemorate? Within this question lies another: if it is beneficial to preserve the original elements of a site, should they be preserved as they are, in varying states of decay or ruin, or reconstructed to their original form? Indeed, in the field of historic preservation there has long been debate over the relative merits of preservation and restoration.
Villa Grimaldi, in Chile, serves as a useful example of how these issues apply specifically to memorial sites that commemorate state violence and mass atrocity. By the time it was decided that Villa Grimaldi should be converted into a site of memory, there was little left to preserve; in an effort to erase the evidence of torture, the government had demolished much of the site by the end of 1988. Ultimately, designers at the site chose to reconstruct the central torture site, but as a bare, oren area, omitting the actual tools of torture.
Designers at other sites have faced similar challenges. In Morocco, for instance, the question of reconstruction is currently being discussed, as the state Equity and Reconciliation Commission has recommended that several former torture sites be converted into sites of memory.
There is no single answer to these questions, and differing contexts undoubtedly present different demands. But how should we begin to think about the relationship between preservation and restoration as it applies to public memorialization, especially as former sites of torture are increasingly being converted into sites of memory?
Design for Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace
Villa Grimaldi Park for Peace consists of a 10,200-square-meter green space crossed by two intersecting paths that lead to a wall inscribed with the names of victims. Designed by Ana Cristina Torrealba, Jose Luis Gajardo, and Luis Santibóez, the park is meant to evoke spiritual thought and honor the memory of the victims. According to the site’s literature, the park “symbolizes the end and the condemnation of a sinister past, and also the beginning of a new stage in the life and the coexistence between all people of Chile.”
Pedro Matta, a former detainee at Villa Grimaldi who was deeply involved in discussions with other victims on what to do with the site, described their process: “The group was divided in their opinions: part of the group wanted to rebuild the former torture center as it was during the time of its functioning (which proved to be impossible because there was not enough funding to do that); another part wanted to demolish everything that remained there and to build a beautiful park to the memory of those who disappeared or were killed at the site, and finally, another group, in which I counted myself, proposed that all the artifacts and buildings that were not destroyed by the dictatorship should be preserved for the memory of this country and a park should be built around them. This was the proposition that was finally approved.”
References
Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi.
External Link
Baxter, Victoria. "Civil Society Promotion of Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Chile: Villa Grimaldi." Peace & Change 30, no. 1 (January 2005): 120-136.
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