Site / Croatian Archipelago Prison Island History
Mission: ‘Goli Otok Memorial, operating as a site or a living museum, aims to develop the island as national and international heritage and conservation project for the new millenium. In managing its resources and activities, it strives to maintain the unique symbolism of the island, nurture creativity and innovation, and contribute to socio-economic development, the transformation of Croatian society and the enrichment of humanity.’
Because of its natural and historical features, Goli Island as a memorial area and a “world heritage location” needs to be seen as a whole, where we differentiate zones of memorial areas and zones of complementary contents.
Central Memorial zone
Mission: Maintaining the political and universal symbolism of Goli Otok.
The memorial area strictly speaking covers the original compounds created from 1949 to 1956, including the camp in the Tetina cove, the “wire” camp in the cove of Vela Draga, the female camp in the cove of Vela Senjska, the camp of “working area 101” (Peter’s Hole), and the infrastructure elements made with the convicts’ hands (facilities for collecting rainwater, paths).
Complementary facilities
Mission: Promoting Goli Otok as a platform for critical debate and life long learning.
It is proposed for the complex built after 1956 (Workshop Street) to reconstruct it and redesign complementary content for the purposes of education, research and media.
Commemorative technological park
Mission: Managing Goli Otok in a manner that promotes economic sustainability and development.
Favoring the unique symbolism of the island, the territory should be developed with the goal of sustainable development, exploiting and pointing out its own qualities and potentials; therefore, referring to the man-made landscape elements (water collectors, wells), we propose a memorial/technological park in the unbuilt northern part of the island. The newly created environment would operate as a self-sustainable memorial landscape, a living museum ”in situ”, with national and global heritage, exploring the relationships between man, nature, society and technology, as a contribution to the sociological and economic development, humaneness and transformation of the Croatian society in transition.
Broader commemorative area
Mission: Conserving and managing the natural and cultural heritage and resources.
The space of the broader memorial area, the apparently untouched natural space which displays the name “Tito” that can be seen only from satellite, should be investigated further (unknown position of the graveyard).
Research and design team
STUDIO UP - Authors
Lea Pelivan
Toma Plejić
Team collaborators
Marina Dilberović
Saša Relić
Danka Tišljar
Local authority
Črnjar Mladen, head of the Primorsko-Goranska County / Institute for sustainable development and spatial planning
Gordana Uroda, independent expert associate for protected areas, Primorsko-Goranska County / Institute for sustainable development and spatial planning
Alen Andreškić, head of the Tourist Office Lopar / City of Rab
Non-governmental organization in the team
Ante Zemljar”: Pavao Ravlić, Veronika Winter, Alfred Pal, Vladimir Bobinac
“O tom po tom”: Sanjin Kaštelan, Slave Lukarov
MMC Palach: Damir Čargonja
