Healing the Wounds of the Disappeared

Amy Hwang

“Today we still miss what’s been missing for so long.
We still have memory though it chooses to be silent.
Though no longer in fashion, though she seems defeated,
she still waits serenely and lick her wounds.
She sleeps amidst the shipwreck and dreams that she awakens,
in the heart of a man who sheds his sorrow.”
(Our Disappeared/ Nuestros Desaparecidos, by Juan Mandelbaum)

Problem:

The Dirty War refers to the state-sponsored violence against Argentine citizenry from roughly 1976 to 1983. Up to 30,000 people disappeared during that time. Practically everyone knows of someone who disappeared, such was the scale. Although there are many in the community who wish to forget, Argentina is still haunted by this wound. Through the names carved in the cold marble memorials and through the march of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, the pain can still be felt. As written on one of the banners by the Madres “ Ni olvido, ni perdon” (Neither forget, nor forgive)

Solution:

The project aims to be a subtle memorial to those who died and as a healing facility for the living. In the daytime, the project seeks to bring the community together while providing a tranquil and supportive environment for the healing process. At night, the buildings are transformed into floating lanterns, a reminder and tribute to the disappeared.

Program:

A Hydrotherapy Center with 10 pools for various therapy sessions. The project also includes community gathering spaces and consultation rooms as well as other support spaces for the families. Structures beneath the buildings would incorporate growing chambers for bivalves as a filtering system for the polluted Riachuelo River, while the rainwater runoff into the river is cleansed through the marsh and wetland plants growing on the roof.