In the 1982 book, The Minimal Intervention, Swiss sociologist Lucius Burckhardt (1925-2003) quotes the French garden designer Bernard Lassus, “The need to intervene in the landscape is rooted first and foremost in people’s failure to recognise as landscape all that already exists around them; anyone hoping to create a new landscape fails to see that a landscape is inevitably already there.” The idea of ‘designing’ often reveals a sense of imposition—a designer’s (precarious) vision of what a place should be. The problem any such imposition frequently runs into is that it fails to align with the natural order of things. A certain rumination is perceptible in how we treat our own cultural and archaeological heritage, unlike how we desecrate natural landscapes. The infrastructure built around heritage is mindful of the foci and deserves to be adopted in how everything is designed—with a great awareness of the significant destruction designers unintentionally cause, while ironically trying to ‘build’. The Park of Memories, a revitalisation and urban development project for the city of Aš in Czech Republic, is a public park by Prague-based firm SOA Architekti that aims to commemorate the forgotten values of the past and guide visitors through the city’s turbulent history using the geographical and symbolic potential of the area.

The park is located close to Goethe Square, named after the renowned German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who frequented the place. The park’s experience is transformed from just physical to also temporal, through the use of the Time Trip mobile application that brings visitors a glimpse into the city’s past through interactive points in the park. Stefan Sulek, one of the partners at SOA Architekti told STIR, “The park's design is based on a gradual transition from an urbanised park near Goethe’s Square to a forest park on Okružní Street. The design intervention aims to honour the forgotten values and create a space that acknowledges the past while serving present-day urban needs.”

The history of Aš was informed by its geopolitical situation—being located on the western border of the Czech Republic, in a region surrounded by Germany from three sides and connected to the Czech Republic from only one side. In 1937, when the town of Aš was taken over by the Sudeten German Party during World War II, led by Konrad Henlein who openly advocated the annexation of the Sudetenland territories to Nazi Germany, leading to many of the Czech residents—mainly officials—being forced to leave the town. The population shrank even further in the 1950s due to the Cold War, as the whole Aš district was in the border zone, forcing people to move. The project’s conception is based on a gloomy chapter in the history of Aš marking the destruction of the largest cemetery in the 1970s. The park reflects the loss of cultural and historical values during this event through a granite block memorial. Composed of different sizes of stone blocks with recesses for candles, the memorial invites people from the area and neighbouring Germany to remember their ancestors.

The landscape design forms a link between the botanical and architectural concepts of the park. The footbridge is a new element that was added as a parallel path to the design scheme. Made of steel and wood, the suspended structure winds through the park, connecting wooden platforms and walkways. The footbridge does not touch the surface of the original cemetery, symbolically granting an observer status to the visitors across space and time.

“Some of the primary challenges included the careful handling of historical artefacts and remains during the archaeological survey, as well as integrating these elements into the park’s design without disrupting the site’s legacy. Another challenge was restoring the oldest stone bridge and connecting it with the new footbridge while ensuring that modern structures did not detract from the historical ambience of the park,” Šulek told STIR, recounting the intricate process of the project. The restoration involved careful structural repair of the stone bridge while preserving the original materials and design of the 17th century bridge. Archaeological surveys were part of the restoration process, encompassing the unearthing of old graves, human remains and ruins of buildings that had historical significance. Several dozen metre-long historic cellars were discovered, which will be used for cultural events to help bridge the past with the present life of the city. The pathways near the Goethe Square entrance lead to the site of a burnt-out Holy Trinity Church, which was one of the most important monuments in the region. The church is now commemorated by a perimeter wall and a wooden cross.

The project’s materiality and details are intended to reflect both the historical and modern elements of the park—the granite cobblestone paving, packed gravel paths, solid wood podiums and a steel-and-wood combination for the footbridge. Elaborating on the design details adding to the project’s intent, Šulek observed, “The symbolic footbridge, which avoids touching the surface of the original cemetery, represents the delicate balance between respecting the past and creating space for the present. The use of small-leaved linden trees, a traditional species and the Czech national tree, adds a botanical element that ties the design to the local natural heritage.”

The Park of Memories reflects a certain responsibility for designers to become sensitive to contexts—both environmental and cultural and to put special attention to the existing nuances of any place, thus being considerate of not imposing irrelevant identities and rather providing a lens through which the users can experience the authenticity of the place.