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.