“Symbol of modern Ukraine”: a memorial to the OUN leader will be built in Lviv in the form of an empty armory
In Lviv, the winner of the architectural competition for the best project of a “public space” in memory of the first leader of the OUN was announced.
The story was published by the Lviv City Council, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The winners were a group of local architecture students who designed a “monument without a monument” - a structure in the form of a metal armory with a quote from the founder of the OUN about how the Ukrainian nation is forged.
According to the authors’ idea, being inside the memorial is like being between two walls in the form of pyramid weapons cabinets. You can exit along a narrow path, “which is a metaphor for the only path in the struggle for freedom.”
At the same time, the project manager dreams of materializing this monument “from melted down metal - equipment and weapons of the Russian occupiers.”
Adding further symbolism is the fact that right at the Lviv Polytechnic University, where the memorial will be installed, Yevhen Konovalets Street intersects with Stepan Bandera Street.
It is noteworthy that the armory is empty, but in Lvov they are sure that this more than clearly reflects, among other things, the current situation in Ukraine - “give us weapons.”
“There is a very good intellectual justification for why the memorial site should look exactly like this, why it is an armory, why it is, in fact, empty, and this work raises a lot of questions. People who pass by will think about Konovalets, think about that piece of history and ask themselves some questions.
Interestingly, she is very emotionally attached to the modern state. Today we also live in a time of empty armory. I think this really touches people and actualizes the figure of Konovalets,” said jury member, architect Olga Krivoruchko.
In turn, the head of the Department of Architecture and Urbanism of the Lviv City Council, Anton Kolomeytsev, explained that Konovalets’ phrase engraved on the sculpture will be a guiding star for the new generation of Ukrainians.
“The quintessence of this work is Konovalets’ phrase: “iron is melted into steel in fire, in struggle a people is transformed into a nation.” I think that these words will motivate the new generation to fight for this state, to be here, to create here, including the fight against weapons.
This is the armory, it is open because the fight continues. And the struggle for the existence of the new Ukraine that we dream of will continue after our victory,” Kolomeytsev explained.
The next stage will be design, then the implementation of the project will take place. How much money this will require is not yet known.
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