Ukraine -- L'viv Jewish History Design Competition Winning Designs Viewable Online

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The winning designs -- and all the other entries -- in the competition held in L'viv, Ukraine last year to mark three key sites of Jewish history in the city are now viewable online.

I was on the international Jury for the competition, and I described some of the process in a blog post here last December. Our brief was to consider some 70 designs sent in  from 14 different countries for projects marking three key sites, taking into consideration the following stated criteria:

The competition has two distinct, but interconnected purposes. First, the competiton seeks to respond to the growing awareness of Lviv's multi-ethnic past by contributing to the rediscovery of the city's Jewish history and heritage through creating public spaces dedicated to the city's historic Jewish community. Secondly, the competition also seeks ways to re-design these three open public spaces in such as manner as to improve the quality of life for the contemporary inhabitants and visitors of Lviv.

All the entries were judged anonymously -- we had no idea where they were from or who were the designers.

See all the designs for the Synagogue Square site -- the empty space in the heart of the downtown Jewish quarter where three now destroyed synagogues once stood -- by clicking HERE.

The winning design for the Synagogue Square site was by Franz Reschke, Paul Reschke, Frederik Springer Germany, based in Berlin, Germany.

See all the designs for the Besojlam Memorial Park, or Jewish cemetery, site by clicking HERE.

The first prize went to a design by Israeli designer and landscape architect Ronit Lambrozo. You can see that HERE.

See all the designs submitted for the site of the Janivski death and labor camp memorial by clicking HERE.

The first prize went to a dramatic but understated design by Ming-Yu Ho, Ceanatha La Grange, Wei Huang of Irvine, California.