Memorial KZ Hinzert

Documentation center: public forum & exhibition space  pdf
From the former SS special camp in Hinzert, only the outlines of the floor plan are still visible on aerial photographs. The decision to locate the new building beneath ground level aimed to retain the existing site in its current condition. The triangular floor plan echoes the topography of the site, its orientation based on the alignment of the pathway with the nearby village and the torn-down barracks. Above ground, a 30-metre-long monolithic block of glass marks the position of the downward-leading staircase by which visitors access the underground spaces containing the public forum and an atrium with a contemplative water garden. The green, uneven mass of glass protrudes 12 metres into the ground and was shaped from countless vertical layers of sheet glass.