The design of the Interpretation Centre in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, responds to the tragic history of the site of a former secret detention, torture and extermination centre. The project combines commemorative, educational, cultural and community functions, creating a new public space dedicated to preserving memory, raising public awareness and passing historical experience on to future generations. The building includes a historical exhibition pavilion, a memorial art gallery, an immersive audiovisual showroom, a library, educational spaces, a conference complex, administrative facilities, a café and technical facilities, including a cogeneration power plant.
The urban concept is set within the broader design of a new urban district and the adjoining Memory Park. The park integrates the existing warehouse and barracks buildings together with the new Interpretation Centre. The network of paths is inspired by the traditional Tucumán hand-weaving pattern known as La Randa and forms two main focal points: a quiet memorial space at the site of the tragic events and an educational centre concentrated around the new building. The object thus becomes a new centre of gravity within the park and, at the same time, a symbol of revealing history within a landscape that had long kept it hidden.
The architectural design is based on the contrast between the concealed and the revealed. The mass of the building is partially embedded into the terrain, and its organic form refers both to the surrounding slope and to the history buried beneath the surface. From this unobtrusive part rise strict, sharply cut slabs evoking gravestones, transforming the building into a dignified memento to the victims. The orientation of the building towards the mass graves strengthens its symbolic meaning and links the architecture directly to the memory of the specific place.
In terms of layout, the building is designed as a three-storey structure embedded into the slope. The publicly accessible first floor contains the main exhibition, educational and social spaces. The double-height reception area and café create a monumental open space that connects with the surrounding landscape and water surface. The upper floors are dedicated to conference facilities and administrative areas, while the basement accommodates parking, supply functions and technical equipment. The structural and material solution is based mainly on monolithic reinforced concrete, exposed concrete, corten steel, aluminium and perforated sheet-metal cassettes, whose restrained expression supports the commemorative character of the building.
At the same time, the design responds to the climatic and socio-economic conditions of Tucumán. The building uses passive protection against overheating through a green roof, generous roof overhangs and a ventilated façade with perforated panels. The energy concept is based on off-grid operation, with a cogeneration unit burning local sugarcane biomass, supplying not only the Interpretation Centre itself but also the adjacent urban district. The Interpretation Centre is therefore not merely a memorial to the past, but a comprehensive cultural, educational and environmentally self-sufficient infrastructure that transforms a place of trauma into a space of memory, dialogue and renewal.