Project credits
Project Name：”Cenușa” Crematorium –Resurrection of the Romanian People from the Ashes of the Revolution- A Memorial Museum proposal, Bucharest, Romania
Name: Iuliana Adina Apostol
School: Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania
Adviser: arch. Dorina Tarbujaru
School: Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Romania
Adviser: arch. Dorina Tarbujaru
Special thanks to: Sofian Moumene
Project description
In 1989 the wave of revolutions that resulted in the Fall of Communism starts in Romania. On 16. December Timişoara was the first city to react which led to the killing of 43 people, which were secretly transported to the Cenușa (“ashes”) Crematorium in Bucharest where their corpses were cremated.
The proposed museum includes a revised design to the existing columbarium as well as a memorial museum for the people killed. Being in the proximity of and under the same administration as Bellu Cemetery, it has a real potential of joining the European Route of Significant Cemeteries which includes Bellu Cemetery as of 2011.
The Cenușa Crematorium is unique in the whole world, being one of the most monumental buildings of this type. The crematorium was operational between 1934 and 2002. Almost 60,000 people were cremated here.
The concept of the project focuses on fire through both mythological and contemporary interpretations. In mythology, fire has three different and very complex forms: sacred - with celestial origin, symbolising the power of Gods; human - used by people in order to improve their lives and demonic - used to destroy.
Being the tallest room, the chapel therefore receives the “sacred fire” symbolized by the installation of a Phoenix; mythologically a bird associated with the sun that obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. The museum offers the visitor the experience of the Phoenix bird: after visiting the memorial museum’s basements, the visitor will take the elevator illuminated only by the light from the ground floor, seemingly to the light at the end of the tunnel and will arrise in the middle of the installation.
The two basements receive the demonic fire where the memorial of the revolution of Timişoara in 1989 can be visited. The memorial museum does not only account for the historic events through the presentation of images, but also offers the visitor experiencing history through multi-sensory rooms.
Between the first and second basement, an installation of a contemporary interpretation of fire can be found, which from the second basement can be seen as a SunGod or simply as the Sun, as fire was perceived in mythology.
In December 1989, the secret code for revolutionaries killed and cremated was "packages" as the operation was called The Border. Mirrored room has 43 illuminated packages hanging from the ceiling with a retractable system. Thus, the visitor may read the information about each of the deceased by dragging any of them, during which the sound of a bullet touching the floor can be heard.
Deaf room is an anechoic room where visitors can hear the pulse in their veins, restricting their sensory experience solely to their own body.
Freezing room is a cold room with metal plated walls; resembling an isothermic truck in which the corpses were transported from Timişoara to Bucharest. This is another sensory room in which visitors can feel cold - it is considered possible that some of the people transported were still alive during transportation, as a necropsy of the bodies never took place.
Oculus Room offers the visitors, with the help of special glasses, the opportunity to enter a virtual world where they can experience a selection of moments of different cities during the revolution in Romania.
The trip ends with a walk in the garden, through the vegetal monastery and by planting a flower in one of the memorial walls as an offering to the ones who died in the revolution.
The columbarium from the first floor (human fire) is redesigned in a more friendly shape and the aspect of life is represented by grass growing through niches in the walls. The design of the entire museum embraces life and death together, its purpose being to make people aware of the fact that life is threatened constantly by death, largely by causes out of control and its occurrence being unexpected, hence reminding the visitor of enjoying life while it lasts.
