BorderHouse

The village of Szelmenc was cut in two when the border was delineated to run through here in 1946. The western part was (Slovakia) Europe, the eastern part Ukraine, and there was a gaping empty space in-between the two villages, named Nagyszelmenc (Big Szelmenc) and Kisszelmenc (Little Szelmenc) Szelmenc. The symbol of the village is a Sekler gate cut in two, with its two pediments being in one village but in two countries. The entrances of the BorderHouse open from the no man’s land. The house is that of a forcefully divided community. The building, made of inorganic materials – concrete, metal and glass – stands as an absurd fortress in the borderland. “There is one thing alone that can make loneliness bearable: connection.”