International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum Permanent Exhibition
Completed
2012
Geneva, Switzerland
400 sqm
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum
Atelier Oi, Geneva (Structural engineering)
Kenneth Hudson Award - European Museum of the Year Award 2015
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum invited nine architects to develop the scenography for its permanent exhibition The Humanitarian Adventure. While unrolling 150 years of humanitarian history, it follows ongoing Red Cross and Red Crescent operations around the world and looks towards the future. Open since May 2013, the exhibition presents three contemporary themes: Defending Human Dignity designed by Brazilian architect Gringo Cardia; Reducing Natural Risks designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, and Restoring Family Links designed by Francis Kéré.
Restoring Family Links takes the visitor through several stations, starting with a hemp concrete passage and a memorial tower, which references the architecture of a family home. On the tower’s wall, portraits of Rwandan children recall the separation from their families during the country’s 1994 genocide. The space also commemorates the missing of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Nearby, consultation tables and large glass cabinets house facsimiles of the archives of the International Prisoners of War Agency, 1914-1923. In examining the connection between family and nature, a Tree of Messages demonstrates the innate contradiction between war and nature, destruction and creation. Finally, the lightweight wooden construction of the Room of Witnesses signifies transparency and hope. It reveals the significance of reconnecting those who are orphaned, missing or unexpectedly bereaved with members of their families – a major objective of the Red Cross and Red Crescent organisation.
Kéré Architecture's contribution recognises the importance of reconstructing human connections when they are unexpectedly broken or severed. The team designed the scenography to create an emotional awareness of the consequences that occur either through manmade or natural events.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum invited nine architects to develop the scenography for its permanent exhibition The Humanitarian Adventure. While unrolling 150 years of humanitarian history, it follows ongoing Red Cross and Red Crescent operations around the world and looks towards the future. Open since May 2013, the exhibition presents three contemporary themes: Defending Human Dignity designed by Brazilian architect Gringo Cardia; Reducing Natural Risks designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, and Restoring Family Links designed by Francis Kéré.
Restoring Family Links takes the visitor through several stations, starting with a hemp concrete passage and a memorial tower, which references the architecture of a family home. On the tower’s wall, portraits of Rwandan children recall the separation from their families during the country’s 1994 genocide. The space also commemorates the missing of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Nearby, consultation tables and large glass cabinets house facsimiles of the archives of the International Prisoners of War Agency, 1914-1923. In examining the connection between family and nature, a Tree of Messages demonstrates the innate contradiction between war and nature, destruction and creation. Finally, the lightweight wooden construction of the Room of Witnesses signifies transparency and hope. It reveals the significance of reconnecting those who are orphaned, missing or unexpectedly bereaved with members of their families – a major objective of the Red Cross and Red Crescent organisation.
Kéré Architecture's contribution recognises the importance of reconstructing human connections when they are unexpectedly broken or severed. The team designed the scenography to create an emotional awareness of the consequences that occur either through manmade or natural events.
