National Memorial to the Heavenly Hundred Heroes and Revolution of Dignity Museum in Kyiv - Nomination 1 - Memorial

FRAMES OF REMEMBRANCE
The memorial to the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes” creates a setting for the active participation of its visitors. The repetition and the setting of the “Frames of Remembrance” provides both space for remembering the victims of the Revolution of Dignity and a space of hope for a country with a free democratic future. Democracy in Ukraine lives on the strength of forward-looking, action-oriented people who shape society with creativity and a drive for change and development, aiming to create the foundations for a worthwhile and happy future for subsequent generations.
The memorial develops a narrative along the rising path: rooms of remembrance with different atmospheres, filled by visitors, are strung along this path.

A CREATIVE REVOLUTION
On the Maidan, the Ukrainians protested for human dignity and fundamental rights, for the rule of law and for the principles of democracy. People gathered on the Maidan not because they had been commanded to from above and not even following calls by the opposition, but of their own will and with the help of impressive self-organisation. During that autumn, a movement was created that included everyone – based on horizontal networking and liberal European values. In this process, Ukrainians came to understand themselves as a political nation, and since then they have begun, on many levels, to focus more systematically on their history.
The citizens’ involvement in the Maidan left an indescribable sense of a common cause, a genuine “res publica”, a huge community that had overcome – at least temporarily – fear, alienation and hopelessness. In this way, the Maidan movement has not only fundamentally changed the political life, but also the everyday life of Ukrainians. Thus the Maidan has the effect of a demarcation line between Ukraine’s past and present.
The protests engendered a new, unfamiliar feeling of belonging together amongst Ukrainians. Thousands of like-minded people experienced how they were able to successfully conquer free space and fill this space with life within the otherwise heavily authoritarian society. They asserted themselves as emancipated citizens who shape the world. In those days, the Ukrainian capital very sadly turned into an inferno of fire, burning tyres and blood. The violence escalated, leading to the death of 107 activists – the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes”.

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
The element of design played an important role in the Revolution of Dignity. Artistically constructed barricades and walls of protection ensured high media coverage. There was always the idea of creating key images that would be suitable as symbols. This is still evident today, because the mourning and remembrance following the bloody days of the Maidan can be experienced everywhere through spontaneous memorials erected by Kiev’s citizens.
For this reason, a mere rigid monument does not appropriately reflect the memory of the winter days of the revolution. The task is rather to make the creative will and commitment of the citizens an inherent component of this place of remembrance. Development and change are, after all, elementary principles of the idea of democracy. In this context, the memorial provides a physical backdrop to the existing spontaneous memorials. These existing tributes become part of the new memorial, and are subject to constant change. Thus the visitors create their memorial themselves.


FRAMES OF REMEMBRANCE
The length of the memorial is exactly 107 metres. It follows the topography of the avenue of the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes”. The lower entrance to the memorial is at the level of the Ukraine Hotel, while the upper entrance is directly on the land earmarked for the future museum.
The memorial itself consists of 14 frame elements placed on a bed of light-coloured gravel. A slightly raised asphalted path runs along the centre and straight up the incline. In addition to the allegory referring to the activists who fight their way up, the path embodies the timeline of events. In this function, the frames can serve as information carriers in order to illustrate and locate the sequence of the revolution in a graphical depiction.
The frame elements are made of slightly reflective, oiled black steel. The outsides of the individual elements are lined with gold plates, while the insides are left in the natural black colour of the steel. The path is lined by black frames. Along the path there are entrances to various remembrance rooms that are delineated by mirrored frame elements. This makes it possible to also enter the remembrance rooms laterally from the road. When entering these rooms from the inner pathway, they appear dark owing to the black colouring of the frames, and the golden colour of the outsides permeates to the inside as a reflection. When entering them from the outside they first of all appear golden, but one gets a sense of the darker inside. From the outside, the memorial appears as a symbol of hope in the urban space. It appears as a transparent, golden barricade on the avenue of the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes”. The external spaces thus created can be used as backdrops for events and concerts organised by the museum.
Because the eaves remain at the same level throughout, the height of the frame elements at the lower end is twelve metres, while at the upper end of the memorial the frames are only one metre high.
Rooms of mourning are located in the high frames that allow only little light to penetrate to the inside. Along the path up the incline, the frame elements become lower and the spaces fill with hope.
The frame elements at the lower end of the avenue are slightly tilted so that the opening narrows towards the sky and the physical space is reduced. As one progresses upwards, the angle of tilt changes towards the outside and the frames open the space towards the top.
At the Maidan square, two frames serve as an information point, marking the beginning of the memorial and its progression upwards towards the museum. The memorial becomes an “outside foyer” of the future museum and, in addition, offers curators the opportunity to display parts of the exhibition in the memorial itself; the function of the memorial embraces that of a museum. For the transition period until the museum is built, a temporary garden of remembrance is proposed on this site, the heart of which consists of a reflective expanse of water.

LIGHTING CONCEPT
At night the golden outside surfaces of the memorial are brightly illuminated from below using continuous linear lighting. In addition, vertical lighting surfaces within the frame configuration illuminate the entrances and exits and thereby ensure good orientation. On the inside, indirect lighting below the upstand creates an atmospheric lighting backdrop.

REMEMBRANCE ROOMS
A number of remembrance rooms along the path undergo change through the active intervention of visitors:

GUARD OF HONOUR
The first remembrance room is situated at the entrance to the memorial in the high spaces. Life-sized portraits of the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes” are imprinted on the steel plates. Visitors pay their respects to the victims of the revolution as they pass the “Heavenly Hundred Heroes” guard of honour eye-to-eye.

FIRE
In this room of remembrance, the main objective is to convey an impression of the winter days on the Maidan. Fire played an important role – both as an element of heat and a symbol of the fight. The smell of burnt wood lies in the air. A fire smoulders at the outside wall of this dark room.

STONES
In the days of the revolution, activists used paving stones as missiles. Many of Kiev’s inhabitants supplied stones to the fighters at the barricades which they picked up from the paving covering the square. At the end of the struggles these stones were used to spontaneously create memorials, which line the roads around the Maidan. In this remembrance room visitors can repeat this very action – picking a stone up from the ground and stacking it along the wall.

CANDLE
Lighting a candle is an act of remembrance honouring the victims, but it is also a strong symbol of hope. This remembrance room features hundreds of candles, the light of which is reflected from the black walls. Today, candles can be found at many places around the Maidan in honour of the heroes.
BLOSSOM
Flowers fill this room with their scent. In the days following the revolution, Kiev’s citizens brought large quantities of flowers to the Maidan and turned the square into a place of mourning as well as a place of hope for a future based on the principles of freedom.

TREE
Armbands in the Ukrainian national colours are tied to trees and railings everywhere. A tree within the memorial can be decorated with these bands by visitors. It is a light-flooded room that invites you to stay for a while.

NOTES
The revolution featured many creative, mostly graphical, means of expression. This room invites visitors to leave a note of hope in order to create a colourful, diverse image of a democratic Ukraine.

CHURCH
The existing wooden church will be left at its original place. Two frame elements line the space around the church and link it to the ensemble.

INFORMATION CENTRE
In order to emphasise the upper part of the memorial directly at the Maidan, two frames at the mouth of the avenue serve as a landmark and can be used as an information centre that can be seen from afar.

TEMPORARY GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE
For the transition period prior to the construction of the museum, a temporary garden of remembrance is proposed. Its design is kept simple. The central element consists of a circular, reflective expanse of water that reflects the sky and thus marks the start and end points of the memorial until the museum is built.