R2

R2 is an ongoing documentation of the largest transportation engineering project in the Novohrad region, situated in south-central Slovakia.

Since the early 1970’s, the government of present-day Slovakia has planned the construction of two motorway routes–north and south–connecting the west of the country with the east. Parts of the project remain unfinished due to a lack of funding and prioritization. This 26 km stretch of construction, which began in 2020, is the final missing piece: connecting the capital city of Bratislava and Lučenec with a high-speed, two-lane highway.

The cultural isolation of communist Czechoslovakia left lasting marks on the region, which remain more than 30 years after its dissolution. A state of isolation, although no longer politically enforced, is a mental mark that older generations live with. Despite its challenging political history, this isolation has also helped to preserve the self-sustaining and traditional ways in which people in these villages live. It is more than likely that the new motorway will not only change the landscape, but also the lives of its inhabitants.

The speed of our movement affects our perception of the landscape. Our experience differs when we drive, travel by train, or go on foot. The highway is designed so that nothing catches our attention when driving fast. I exit the highway, and I return to the role of inhabitant—someone who lives in and understands the place to which I’ve just arrived.