Architect Javier Olascoaga, a professor in Project 8 at the School of Architecture, along with architect Raquel Lejtreger, undersecretary of the Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning, and the Environment, won the Libertad Prison Memorial Space competition to create a monument in memory of those who died during the dictatorship at the Libertad Prison, a correctional facility through which 2,872 political prisoners passed during the dictatorship.
The construction of the monument is an initiative of the Uruguayan Association of Political Prisoners Crysol (Center for Labor Relations and Solutions), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) and the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MTOP), with support from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and citizen groups in the city of Libertad.
The award was presented by the Minister of Education and Culture, María Julia Muñoz; the Minister of Transportation and Public Works, Victor Rossi; and the president of Crysol, Gastón Grisoni, on December 7, 2017, at the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Olascoaga and Lejtreger are the children of political prisoners and met in prison while visiting their fathers.