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.