Kigali Genocide Memorial—African Center for Peace

Following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the nation convened the Gacaca trials to facilitate community justice, to accurately document proceedings, and to begin to move toward reconciliation. At present, the records of these trials are distributed haphazardly throughout the country and because of this are at a great risk of loss, theft, and decay.

For the twentieth anniversary of the genocide, Aegis Trust and John McAslan + Partners invited MASS to collaborate on a design for the new archives at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. MASS began by designing a testimonial space—a collection of intimately-scaled, light-filled rooms shaped like pillars—where anyone could come to record their personal account. Other spaces for reflection, education, exhibition, and learning emerge around and within the pillars. A gallery, a memory bank, and a library capture, preserve, and share the stories and memories of the past.

When visitors leave the centre at night, the pillars transform into beacons of light, symbolizing the bright future of Rwanda which lies ahead.