Spatial Scars of Conflict

Abstract

The world has always been shaped by conflict, leaving visible and invisible traces within the built environment. Many of these traces still exist today, but are often overlooked, ignored, or unnoticed in everyday life. At the same time, questions arise about which traces remain visible, which disappear, and how memory can be made visible within the urban space. This thesis investigates how architecture can be used as a tool to make subtle traces of conflict visible within the city. The focus lies on spatial and material traces that appear in façades, building fragments, and urban situations, often outside official memorial sites or institutional forms of remembrance. Through small-scale architectural interventions, the thesis explores how overlooked traces of conflict within the urban fabric of Darmstadt can be revealed and spatially situated. The thesis combines theoretical research, empirical investigation, and spatial design exploration. Methods such as site observations, mapping, interviews, and design research were used to identify, analyse, and spatially interpret historical traces in Darmstadt. Theory, research, and the design process were continuously connected and reflected throughout the work. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings, the three design principles perception, readability, and meaning were developed. These principles were spatially interpreted and translated into site-specific architectural strategies. From this process, three different modes of response emerged: reveal absence, reorient attention, and frame evidence, describing different spatial approaches for dealing with visible, half-visible, and not visible traces of conflict. During the design process, it became clear that each site has its own spatial, historical, and atmospheric conditions and therefore requires an individual approach to its scar. At the same time, the process revealed how small the gap can be between making traces visible and beautifying historical violence. As a result, not only visibility itself became important, but also the way visibility is created. The thesis shows how complex memory within the urban space truly is. Architecture cannot solve conflicts, but it can contribute to making hidden traces visible, creating awareness, and an choring memory within everyday urban life. Architecture should not beautify traces of violence, but make them visible and open space for reflection.