Architecture of Latvia: Salaspils memorial / Salaspils memoriāls

There is a number of places in Latvia that I have visited more than once but there is only one that I visit on a regular basis to contemplate the inevitable and appreciate the greatness of architecture and spatial design.

Salaspils memoriāls is a space commemorating a concentration camp and labor camp functioning in 1941, which was located in Salaspils. The space was designed by Gunārs Asaris, Ivars Strautmanis (who taught me at RTU at a point of my life!), Oļģerts Ostenbergs, Oļegs Zakamennijs and sculptors: Oļegs Skarainis, Ļevs Bukovskis and Jānis Zariņš in 1967. The complex is currently part of the Latvian Cultural Canon.

The road to the square itself is an element of the project - you have to get there by train and then follow a road with no signage through the forest in its natural shape. You need to know where you're going - it's impossible to get there by mistake. However, if we are being led by someone, you can personally experience the feelings of those detained in the camp. It is a world-class example of the theme of peregrination in arts, where in this case you need to physically find the space and then - find yourself, standing in the middle of an empty square, alone against the sound of heartbeat, which is audible in the background.

A concrete building with beautiful marks of handmade formwork is located centrally on the square, and represents a metaphor of the history of the three occupations of Latvia, as the narrow corridor leads you along the stairs into the light, which turns out to be a blind wall and steps to the cellar.

There is an inscription on the concrete structure, saying: 'Behind these gates, the earth moans'.
You can read about the history of the camp here.