Remains Reburial Chapel – Columbarium in Tuskulenai Peace Park

About object:

During the Soviet period, misdeeds of the repressive structures were concealed in the territory of the Tuskulenai manor. So, it is not surprising that exactly in this place, a Memorial Complex of Tuskulenai Peace Park was established, where the remains of 724 people found in this territory rest in one of its buildings – in a Chapel-Columbarium.
The mound-like Chapel-Columbarium has become a heart of the entire Peace Park – so forceful and precise was the architecture of the newly created Columbarium.
The memorial function of the building was expressed by the authors using such the architectural forms: the shape of a central part plan is a circle symbolising infinity. Its volume solution – to notch the building into a slope – has tied the object even more tightly with its destination – the grave for hundreds of people. Soft forms of the building influence a visitor in the interior as well: a crypt gallery-wall of the Chapel-Columbarium draws a circle of fate, hereby forming a second shell and a passage along the wall.
The creators managed to create the object very powerful emotionally by using minimal means. Therefore, an assessment commission of an exhibition “Look at Oneself” (“Zvilgsnis i save”) evaluated the Tuskulenai Memorial Chapel-Columbarium as one of the five top Lithuanian architectural works in 2003-2005.

A.Stelbiene