MEIS, Museum of Judaism in Italy and the Holocaust
Intervention: Competition project on restoration and regeneration of the former Prison area
Ferrara, Italy, 2010
Purpose: Museum and Study Centre
Dimensions. Total surface area 20,088 m2 of which 12,133 m2 is covered and 7.975 m2 outdoors.
In collaboration with: Areatecnica, Codice. Idee per la Cultura, Studio Azzurro Produzioni,Tapiro Camplani+Pescolderung, Zuanier Associati; consultants: Angelo Sanzone (lighting designer), Anna Scavezzon (restorer), Simon Levi Sullam (historian).
The initial elements for the project of the Museum of Italian Judaism - the multimillenary presence of Judaism in Italy, an abandoned prison that still bears the marks of what it used to be, and the cultural vivacity of a city such as Ferrara - were arranged in such a way as to allow their interaction and make the MEIS a significant site of representation, with a clearly perceptible identity and creating a strong tie with the city.
Three large, simple and light façades were therefore conceived, to transform the former prison into an open complex, allowing intercommunication between the Jewish culture, architecture of the past and the city.
The Jewish script was chosen as the specific characteristic of the museum as it is the strongest connotation and best synthesis of Jewish culture. The three large façades were transformed into pages, volumes full of words in Hebrew, passages from ancient texts, all of which had the task of transforming the existing architecture while absolving the important functions of the arrangement and organisation of the entire museum “machine".
As regards the historic elements, accurate restoration of the material was deemed the most suitable, with the aim of reinstating its legibility and formal coherence and avoiding any discounting.
Both the word and book are at the centre of the visitor itinerary. The introduction to Judaism is explained via images, sounds, and film clips that give life to the objects on display, explaining their use and functions. Thanks to the addition of a further aspect of interpretation, topography, the historical section becomes a journey through time and space. The link between the two itineraries and heart (also physical) of the museum is the innovative "Identifying Flow", which shows the tradition and imagination of the Jews to the visitor.
