MH17 Competition + Park
The architectural elements of the Memorial witness our attempt to find a formal translation of an inexplicable tragedy. The aim of this conceptual procedure is unequivocal: Never Forget.
July 17th 2014, 1.20.03 pm no more contact with flight nr MH17 heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The plane falls down at about 50 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border allegedly shot down by a ground-to-air missile launched from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. On board 283 passengers and 15 flight crew members: they are all dead.
A memorial will be realized in Amsterdam to commemorate the victims of the horrible slaughter of the innocent ones. The concept takes its origin from the formal translation of symbolic elements; its aim is not to let anyone forget such a terrible tragedy consequently dooming it to eternal oblivion.
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The tripartite structure of the island stands for the airplane wreckage; the main part is dedicated to the memorial (part 1); another part is for the visitors’ access and reception (part 2) and another one is intended to a green area (part 3).
These three areas are linked by an architectural-emotional path leading the visitor to the peculiar areas of the island up to the cornerstone of the architectural design: the Memorial.
It is made up of two walls characterized by a regular series of openings. An architectural metaphor of the airplane wreckage; both that fuselage and the whole mankind have been shattered and violated; that is why is important to connote this place with a powerfully significant and psychological value.
The visitors’ landing is conceived in Part 2; from here we start our “promenade architecturale” characterized by a highly symbolic and emotional value. Such path, leading to a gradual approach and discovery, is created thanks to a series of purposely studied formal and constructional devices; the path cobbled in COR-TEN steel is almost entirely surmounted by a white metal frame.
Such frame stands for the world of affection and memories that indissolubly links the visitors to the victims.
Going further onto the ramp, at a height of 5.50 metres above the island’s main level, the visitors reach the entry gate to the memorial: it represents the separation between two different worlds, between two different emotional atmospheres.
Once crossed the portal, the visitor will enjoy a spellbinding view: on the right the two stone walls, on the left the slowly flowing IJmeer; under the ramp, 298 white vertical poles barely emerging from the water surface; they stand for the perpetual permanence of the 298 victims in our collective memory.
This geometric grid finds its visual peak in the vertical shining black steel element which is set in the far end of Part 1; it is a sort of great prow which metaphorically represents the victims’ ascent to Heaven.
The second gate, when leaving Part 1, is characterized by a memorial stone engraved with the names of the victims. It is the last moment of meditative stasis for the visitor before reaching Part 2 of the island through the bridge; the presence of canals clearly refers to the city of Amsterdam and its many typical canals.
The project also includes two conference rooms, administration offices, three bathroom blocks (one inside and two outside) and a restaurant café which looks out onto a lowered square and is internally connected to the multifunctional space through staircases, elevator and an outer ramp.
Part 3 of the island is covered by a green park. Particularly meaningful is the sunflower field near the cafeteria which refers to the area of the tragic airplane’s impact onto the ground.
