Transient Rift (January 2015)
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) Memorial + Park (matterbetter competition)
Top 50 (of 293)
Collaborators: Matt Adler, Ben Finch, Rohan Rathod
An elliptical boundary condition that reconfigures nature, urbanity and the commemoration of the flight’s victims.
A sunken memorial, this proposal deploys a massive concrete wall as a periphery condition. The wall does not deny the river, but accepts it to create a phenomenological discourse. The wall is carved and weathered by the overflowing water of the river Ijmeer; saline erosion turns the monolithic wall into an ephemeral element, forever changing. The wall is a boundary within which all differences are left behind, where people can come to celebrate and enjoy the purity of human emotion. A pulsating waterfall is created by the overflow of river water into the island, a poetic sign of the unity between the artificial construct and the force of the river.
The elliptical geometry allows the wall to create a continuous, layered and stratified experience. The thickness of the wall is spatialized through the sculpting of multiple meditative spaces that overlook a chasm into which the river water cascades. The island consists of a submerged and fragmented landscape with a continuous, helical path that leads visitors to a reflecting pool at its base. The boardwalk is punctuated by program including a restaurant offering eastward views of the city, a cafe to the South, a multi-purpose hall looking westward with accompanying administrative and utility spaces. Four grand staircases mediate the descent into a secondary circuit where one experiences the overflow of water from the river into the pools below. Beyond this, one can reach the epicenter of the memorial through the helical ramp or via a series of staircases that cut through landscape pockets.
Dr. Wim de Wagt (juror): "Ingenious, multifunctional, multilayered design, characterized by both traditional architectural forms of gathering and remembrance (arena, pool of reflection, landscaping, etc.), and modern options of planning (eco-system); arena-like plan stimulates solidarity and collective use of facilities; design is well thought and well detailed."
The boardwalk is the first layer of the loop. The view down to the inner memorial layers on one side and a complete panorama of the urban context on the other are juxtaposed as the thin periphery is held in tension. The river disappears under the boardwalk and makes its stunning encore appearance on the next layer below. The island retaining wall mediates the boundary between water and land, reconciling the vast, ever-changing river, and the struggle to control, to know, and understand overwhelming phenomena. The wall is carved to create reliquary chambers, which are sheltered by the veil and sound of the falls.
