Lydia Dambassina

This project is the participation proposal of Manolis Baboussis and Lydia Dambassina for the cοmpetition commissionned by the Jewish Community of Athens

Graphic design:
Vassilis Charalambidis
3D graphics design:
Fotis Raftopoulos, Kostas Tyligadis
We would like to thank:
Sofia Bavela
Dimitris Diamantopoulos
Kriton Konstantinou
Elisabeth Peelaert
Aggelos Pitsikalis
Stathis Potamitis
Μichèle Rechtman
Titika - Μaria Saratsi
ISBN 978-960-930707-9
©
MANOLIS BABOUSSIS, LYDIA DAMBASSINA
ΛΥΔΙΑ ΔΑΜΠΑΣΙΝΑ, ΜΑΝΩΛΗΣ MΠΑΜΠΟΥΣΗΣ
baboussi@hol.gr
dambas@msn.com

To the Members of the Evaluation Commission – Proposal for the THE MONUMENT DEDICATED TO THE HOLOCAUST JEWISH VICTIMS in Athens
Psalm CXIX Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

With the creation of a monument in Athens to commemorate the Holocaust, a huge void in our country’s capital will be filled. Although this monument is primarily dedicated to the tremendous tragedy experienced by the jewish greek community, it is also an opportunity to remind us of the depth that the roots of this community have secured in hellenic history. It is pertinent to give a memorial of such importance a place amidst the antique landmarks of Athens, where clues indicate a prosperous jewish presence since the 1st century A.C. The integration of a contemporary monument in a place strongly marked by archaeology presents huge difficulties. This monument commemorating the Holocaust must hold a distinctive place without competing with the other monuments.
In our concept, the monument has a compact presence, both silent and audible, attracting attention without rhetoric. Our approach is a conscious choice of simply suggesting rather than realism. “Shoah”, the emotionally charged Claude Lanzmann documentary [1985] was our inspiration.
The monument is composed of a long corridor in black granite. A black step in a long and narrow cell, with two separate doorways. A room with a doorway to enter and another to exit. There is a cell that inside carries a heavy double steel grid and a floating anonymous crowd. The same corridor ends with a commemorative plaque in massif granite monolith placed on the ground, where the community will inscribe the text that will restore Memory.
Columns constituted by accumulated masculine, feminine and childish metallic moulded forms, are hung in the central axis of the metallic construction, without touching the ground – almost as if they are ghosts. They symbolize the victim’s presence/absence. They underline the industrial extermination mode. They refer very dramatically to the Holocaust as an incommensurable loss as well as an incontestable memory.

From another perspective, each column forms a spine. The skeleton persists, resisting: to time, to death, to everything, and as a reminder of life, of a flame forever burning. So too do the nine columns who stand inline, which symbolize a Menorah ['Chanukiyyah'].
The double metallic grid, with its 25 mm opening and its 8 mm thickness, adding furthermore to the reference to closeness, has another very important function in relation to the point of view of the monument. The monument is fully revealed only when one stands directly in front of it. This particularity suggests that we have to face the Holocaust directly and not avoid it, with determination and not as a passer-by.
With sunlight, or at night with lighting, it creates live shadows supported by a conceptual and plastic significance. It is a transparent/opaque wall.

Strength, durability, easy maintenance and quality of materials have been specially studied. It will be practically impossible to deface it with graffiti. The monument is visible from all side except from the archaeological site of Keramikos. Almost all the trees are kept in place. Its access is slightly inclined to give a feeling of burial and to guaranty the same height of the monument at 2.10 m from the ground on its full length. Its place, perpendicular to the axis of Ermou street, where lies its principal access, which allows a discreet position while leaving free access to the green space where one can meditate. The metallic construction stands only on 8 m2, giving it a striking strength.
In our study we propose a future improvement on 1.80m on each side, all along the monument, made of rectangular stone pavement in black granite with grass in the joint harmonizing the monument with the green space.

Thanking you,

Manolis Baboussis, Lydia Dambassina, Athens, April 2008