holocaust memorial at atlantic city

This was a competetion which caught my attention for the design of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Holocaust Memorial. the two top entries for the design caught my attention. the way both the designers intepret the design and use architecture to express the concept is something that inspired me a lot and also help me understand the design of memorial buildings much better

The first design concept is called as 'fractured memories' based on the victims of the holocaust. The proposal described the memorial as a “fractured landscape and a river of light that stitch together disjointed surfaces, expressing our hopes for peace. The design resembles a broken and disjoined boardwalk, reassembled by a bright light that runs the length of the memorial.subtle and powerful at the same time, it takes you off the Boardwalk and leaves you on the Boardwalk.” The fruition of the concept into a built intervention in Atlantic City is still a way off.

The second design was was based on the concept “Fields of Memory” is an urban garden of light stalks that sway with the wind and emit soft flute-like sounds. The design is raised on a wooden deck above the level of the boardwalk and relates to the sea-grass situated between the boardwalk and the ocean. The concept of the light stalks derive from a biblical story of Shibboleth (Judges 12, 5-6) that has become a synonym for hatred based on an ethnic and cultural base. Its presence on the boardwalk as a memorial to the events it recognizes commemorates the loss of millions, and through their own collective nature emphasize this memory through eternal lights that they emit.

 The design proposal recognizes the need to commemorate loss by binding it with the present by situating seating and gathering areas to face the boardwalk rather than the ocean. The reflection of those that will visit the memorial will always look out into the present activities of life on the boardwalk as a reminder of perseverance and that grief and memory are inseparable from life. A low reflecting pool at the center of the memorial also creates a focal point for gathering, holding ceremonies, and laying pebbles as an act of grief. It reflects the visitors during the day and the stalks during the night.

tsunami memorial

looking for memorials designed for victims of natural disasters i found this design done for the tsunami victims.the way the architect uses the element of the disaster. ie, the ocean as a part of the design and acheives the tranquility the space demands is something i found very admirable. also the way the screen is set against the sunset and the peices of stone representing the victims of the disaster including the viewer to walk through the space and experience the memory and also a end point where he could stand and think or look at the ocean( the cause) from is something i found very intresting in this project

'the white field of stones' at the edge of land and water
is a tsunami memorial for the Norwegian victims on the west coastal zone of the peninsula Bygdøy, South of Oslo.
The monument consists of a loose field of white stones and a grouped part that assembles into a path and a kind of raft.
The raft itself is like an 'unfolded book' of which the standing part makes a screen with openings as a counter form of the white stones of the raft.The raft that holds the white stones together is made of black basalt.

From the sea, the stones and screen will light up against Bygdøy as the background.

Each stone in the raft represents a Norwegian tsunami victim.
The openings that mirror the stones in the raft are all unique, symbolising the (souls of the) victims.

The memorial is oriented towards the west, in order to experience the sunset every day and has a zero ecological footprint, all materials are natural and will last for centuries.
The white stones and the screen are made of fibre reinforced white prefab concrete.The tidal movement is around one foot.
The raft rests on the sea floor and is always surrounded by water.The memorial is a place for ceremonies, where visitors, individuals as well as families and groups, can reconciliate past and future.The openings, through which ocean, horizon and sky are present,are designed for personal ceremonies.

 

0707 Memorial London

looking at recent memorials done for the victims of terrorism the ones that came to mind were the 9/11 world trade center memorial and in the uk the memorial for the victims of the london bombing.

The memorial designed for the victims of the london bombing where 52 people were killed at 4 different sites.the design comprises 52 pillars (stelae), each representing one of the victims. They are grouped together in four inter-linking clusters reflecting the four incidents, with each stele bearing an inscription of the date and location of the particular incident that its cluster represents. It will be situated in the North-east corner of Hyde Park, close to Park Lane and Lover’s Walk.

Using the language of architecture to make order out of chaos, this monument is an opportunity for lost victims to be in contact with the living through a process of discovery, where the memorial’s structure becomes complete through the presence and body language of a curious visitor.

Yehiam Memorial

This is another memorial building which caught my attention a lot.in terms of design the event that occured and the identity of the kibbutz tribe of people who were modernistic in their thinking in the conservative society of the past is represented so clearly in the Modern design of this building and also the usage of simple concept of balnace and imbalace in terms of design and concept interpretation is something i found very intresting.

The concept of the feeling of the inside of a truck which was used during that period Incorporated in the design and the will to convey the state of sorrow for the victims is acheived brilliantly with using architecture as a language.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the convoy to Yechiam, the memorial site for those who were killed in the convoy, and for the fallen Kibbutz members, was designed.
the kibbutz members had a prominent history in isreal.

http://www.momentmag.com/the-fallen-kibbutz-a-microcosm-of-israeli-society/

The visitor who arrives at the memorial experiences, while progressing to the hall the confined geometry of the place that was designed with the help of a computer, and based on physical models. The materials used in the construction are wood and plaster. The space that is revealed inside the building is a clean space, which forms a balance on the one hand of the general feeling, and on the other hand points to the photos of the fallen.

The photos themselves are emphasized by hidden lighting, both natural and artificial. In the interior design work of the site, the photos of the fallen were reconstructed and renovated with the help of computers.

The Mandurah War Memorial

This is another memorial structure which i found very intresting in terms of design representaion and the way the designer interpts a poem and the event into architecture.The simplicity in the design and the way it represents the event struck me the most in this memorial design.

The Mandurah War Memorial is a competition winning design on the western foreshore of the estuary in Mandurah. The brief requested a reference to the axis of the rising sun on ANZAC Day and the use of a black granite stone donated by the RSL. The memorial was to be non-sectarian with no names of the fallen and an emphasis on memory and visibility.

The design comprises a procession of columns that rise from the water on the axis of the rising sun of ANZAC Day.Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, originally commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I

There is a certain resonating tension between the masses as they converge towards the centre, displacing the ground along their course and allowing water to flow from a central reflection pool back into the estuary. Intersecting the procession at the centre is a promenade laid out for the ANZAC day march, a convergence of the living with the spirit of the fallen; this is where ceremonies are held. From this point the columns dissipate as the procession recedes back into the earth amongst a grove of New Zealand Christmas trees. The procession is a representation of the cycle of life, ongoing and eternal. A narrative for the journey is cast through the columns in the form of a poem 'At the going down of the sun' by an unknown author.

The memorial's axial planning defines areas for recreation, interpretation, reflection, memory and ceremony. Its form permits intuitive interpretation by the observer, and has been effective to visually reconnect the site to the city centre.