despair

perhaps one of the most controversial race on earth, the Jewish population has endured some of the most frightening experience during the WW2.

one can read books, watch movies, or even visit historical sites related to the holocaust, but how close could one imagine or even attempting to understand the fear, hopelessness, despair that the Jewish people experienced?

went into the Memorial to the Murdered Jews around 3pm on a sunny weekday, at the height of the WorldCup fever, yet, once you entered the orthogonal laybirith, with the floor undulating in unexpected ways, and the concrete columns suddenly towering over you at the heart of the installation, the chill that sent thru your spine, so many people around you yet you can not see them, hearing voices muttering but not knowing their whereabout, one was suddenly catpulted back to a dimension where there was no hope, and the future was bleak...

other than a piece of work by Tadao Ando in Himeji i visited years ago that gave me such a strong impact, this installation has hit home a sensation that can not be described in words...i was speechless, and felt that i was among the Jews, waiting to be escorted to the path of utter darkness...

this is the power of architecture.