Courtesy of ROMA Design Group

This past Fall, ROMA Design Group proudly announced the completion of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington D.C. In 2000, ROMA won the international design competition among nearly 1,000 entries. ROMA Design Group worked for several years to develop the design. The memorial has now been built and was officially dedicated by President Obama on October 16, 2011.

Architect: ROMA Design Group
Location: Washington D.C., USA
Illustrations: Christopher Grubbs
Photographs: Courtesy of ROMA Design Group

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© Dror Baldinger, Courtesy of Powers Brown Architecture

In September of 2011, the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated at a ceremony in Washington Square Park in Kansas City, Missouri. The project, which started as an effort to demonstrate the benefits of Tilt-Up concrete construction as part of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association’s (TCA’s) annual convention, quickly turned in to something so much more. Not only is the project a testament to the versatility, applicability and beauty of Tilt-Up construction, it is a demonstration of the generosity, pride and good will of TCA members. Most importantly, it continues the legacy of Korean War Veterans and recognizes those who paid the supreme sacrifice and gave their lives in defense of South Korea. More images and project description after the break. read more »

Courtesy of Etienne Bastormagi Architects

“In order for a pain to be healed… you have to acknowledge the fact that this pain has occurred” Maya Lin. Construction of the first memorial began in 1966 (during Soviet times) in response to the 1965 Yerevan demonstrations during which one million people demonstrated in Yerevan for 24 hours to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Genocide.

Inspired by the above events as well as the specificity of this memorial regarding the site conditions, the winning design of the project by Etienne Bastormagi Architects had to undergo a conceptual brainstorm. The design proposes a space – not only to remember the ones that died through the act of genocide-that is designed to celebrate the ones that have survived and helped us reach to our existing status. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Ben Kacyra, co-founder and CEO of Cyra Technologies and managing director of CyArk, discusses digital preservation of the World’s Heritage Sites through 3D laser scanning. The non-profit organization uses quick and precise 3D scanning systems to create high-resolution, digital models of historic sites through the creation of point clouds. These systems have the capability of gathering nearly 10,000 points per second, compared to a surveyor gathering only 500 points a day. With the constant threat of natural disasters and human destruction, the CyArk 500 Challenge aims to digitally preserve 500 World Heritage Sites within five years. Ben Kacyra states, “We are losing the sites and stories faster than we can physically preserve it.”

Could a digital archive of historical architecture offer some relief to the important buildings that are currently or may someday be at risk?

Reference: TED, CNN

© Stephen Evans

Landscape: PLANT Architect
Location: Dublin, Ohio, USA
Project Team: Lisa Rapoport, Chris Pommer, Mary Tremain, Lisa Moffitt, Olivia Mapue, Elise Shelley, Jane Hutton, Heather Asquith
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Stephen Evans

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Summer view looking northeast along Maryland Avenue through the memorial site © Gehry & Partners

Pritzker Prize architect Frank Gehry’s designs are not shy to controversy, however the monumental significance of this design has raised the Gehry debate to an even higher level. The winning design of the GSA Design Excellence Program competition that began in 2008, Gehry Partners were chosen from forty-four design firms, then narrowed down to four finalists at which time the panel evaluated previous work, conducted interviews, and responses to the memorial’s pre-design program.

Upon selection Gehry Partners provided 3 options for the Eisenhower Memorial Commission to choose from and the final design was unanimously selected in March 2010 and featured here on ArchDaily. However since the initial design was revealed it has been met with debate, including a competition hosted by the National Civic Art Society this past spring inviting classical architects to submit alternative designs for the Eisenhower Memorial.

Update: Eisenhower’s grandson David, a commissioner for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, has not publicly voiced support for or against the Gehry/Wilson design.

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© Daniel Pareja

Architects: José Pareja + Jesús Hernández
Location: Guanajuato, México
Landscape Design: José Pareja Gómez, Jesús Hernández Martínez
Project Leaders: Jesús Hernández, José Pareja
Project Team: Abdiel Miranda, Isaí Padilla, Eduardo Muñoz, Claudia Pérez
Structural Project: Lucio Lerma
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Daniel Pareja

Previously featured on Archdaily as an in-progress project, the Bicentennial Torch in Mexico was recently completed and is now fully operational. The inspiration is drawn from the mural “Lucha social” (in English: “Social struggle”), by Jose Clemente Orozco, which shows the leader of the independence, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leading the insurrection by tightly grasping a flaming torch.

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Shrine of the Book and the Knesset, Israel Ministry of Tourism

The Shrine of the Book (Hebrew: היכל הספר‎ Heikhal HaSefer) is a wing of the Israel Musem near Givat Ram in Jerusalem, constructed in 1965. The building houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between 1947 and 1956 in and around the Wadi Qurman.

The building was the result of an elaborate seven-year planning process funded by the family of David Samuel Gottesman, a Hungarian philanthropist who purchased the scrolls as a gift to the newly founded state of Israel. One architect, American philanthropist-cum-designer Armand Phillip Bartos, was chosed because he was married to Gottesman’s daughter. The other appointed architect, Frederick John Kiesler, had previously recieved funding from Gottesman to install the “Endless house” at the Museum of Modern Art. The architectural team also included the well-connected Gezer Heller, brother-in-law to Ibbi Hammer, future chief banker for the State of Israel and daughter of the Chief Rabbi of Budapest. Israelis objected to the choice of non-Israeli architects, especially Kiesler. read more »

VIsualization by Squared Design Lab - http://www.911memorial.org/

Ten years since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the National September 11 Memorial was dedicated in a private ceremony with the victims’ families. It was officially opened to the public as of today, September 12th. The opening of the 9/11 Memorial is a first step towards the closing of a long chapter of construction at the World Trade Center site. read more »

The Art of Memories Film. Photographed by Emon Hassan

As the 10th anniversary of September 11th is upon us, we thought it appropriate to share Amanda Lin Costa’s work-in-progress documentary about memorials built from the steel of the World Trade Center.  Hangar 17, an expansive space at JFK Airport, has become the temporary resting place for collected debris from that day….beams, firetrucks, taxis, shoes, etc.   Over the past ten years, select pieces have been distributed upon request to create memorials that are now scattered about world, including all 50 States.   In her documentary, Costa focuses not only on the design of the memorials, such as those in Ohio, Saratoga Spings, Westchester and New Jersey, but also their experiential and spiritual quality.

More about the documentary after the break. read more »

© Dispersed Memorial

Through technology, light pixels and paper cards, Dispersed Memorial creates a country-wide collective remembrance of 9/11.

One month before the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Dispersed Memorial is distributing memory cards ten at a time across the country to honor the date. Each laser cut card reveals the project name through delicate voids in the paper which create an ephemeral image only visible when the card is held to the light or casts a shadow. With each exchange of the card, a moment of remembrance is initiated and prompts a dispersed, collective conversation about the memory of loved ones lost or affected by the events of 9-11.

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Via Bloomberg

Last September, we shared the news of Louis Kahn’s memorial park for the southernmost tip of Roosevelt Island. Kahn had designed the park in the 70s, but after his sudden death, the plan was forgotten until 1992 when the MoMA featured the scheme in an exhibition.   Upon learning of Kahn’s thoughtful and architecturally compelling ideas to commemorate FDR and his Four Freedoms speech,  the public quickly advocated its completion.   As we reported earlier, at the end of Kahn’s axial tree-lined triangular “Garden”, a 72 sqf   “Room” will contain excerpts from the text of President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech.  This room, contained by 12 foot high granite columns, is meant for contemplation and remembrance as Kahn’s stoic material palette, clear formal attitude, and forced perspective of the skyline will create, what we imagine will be, a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.   With Kahn’s simple gestures, the memorial will preserve a time in American history where FDR’s leadership inspired hope to endure the Great Depression and the second World War.  We’re excited for the memorial to be completed and we’ll keep you up to date with its progress.

A great sample of construction photos and renderings after the break. read more »

Photo by Benny Lin / http://www.flickr.com/photos/benny_lin/

Otherwise known as the National Mausoleum, the Mazar-e-Quaid is the tomb of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.  Sited in the center of Karachi, Pakistan on a natural plateau, this marble structure was designed by the Indian architect Yahya Merchant and was completed in 1970.

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Photo by hairyeggg - http://www.flickr.com/photos/hairyegg/

On August 6th, 1945, a B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb in history over Hiroshima, Japan, targeting the intersection of bridges over the Honkawa and Motoyasu rivers. The bomb devastated Hiroshima within a radius of 5 km, resulting in 140,000-150,000 deaths by December of that year.  Kenzo Tange was commissioned with the challenge of designing the reconstruction of Hiroshima. By designing the Hiroshima Peace Center and Memorial Park, Tange expressed the solidarity of human kind as well as symbolizing a commitment to peace. More after the break.

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© Robert Creamer

Architects: GWWO Architects
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Exhibit Planning & Design: Haley Sharpe Design
Civil Engineering: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Landscape Architecture: Mahan Rykiel Associates, Inc.
MEP Engineering: Henry Adams, LLC
Structural Engineering: Faisant Associates Inc.
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 17,655 sqf
Photographs: Robert Creamer, GWWO Architects

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With the Freedom Tower rising about a storey a day, it is amazing to see the progress and the impact the structure is having on the New York skyline.  We spotted this time lapse video of the construction of the Memorial, showing the filling of the towers’ footprints, to the thousands of gallons of water being pumped into the voids, and the hundreds of white oaks planted.  Our favorite part is at the end of the video when it zooms to show the Memorial’s scale and positioning in relationship to the new built structures.  As the tenth anniversary of this horrific tragedy quickly approaches, millions will be remembering the day in their own way, from a Hand-in-Hand public show of unity when thousands will join hands along the West Side of Manhattan on September 10 to an 1,800 person motorcycle ride from the South of the country to Ground Zero.  We are also glad that New Yorkers and Americans will have a finished Memorial to show our strength, unity and growth.

© Tom Doyle

Set against a backdrop typically reserved for postcards, the decaying bunkers of the Aleutian Islands Campaign serve to memorialize a little-known chapter of WWII lore. Read more about these distinctive relics after the break.

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Photo by Sergey Rodovnichenko - http://www.flickr.com/photos/serger/

The city of Moscow experienced a huge size and population boom following the industrial development and railway construction of the late 19th century. At this time, horse-drawn cars and trams were the main form of transportation, but soon the horses were not enough to fuel the city’s rapid expansion. As a result, plans were made for development of a new peripheral ring railway that would carry freight throughout the city. Many years later, underground lines for passengers were linked to the original railway. These lines quickly turned the railway into a booming metropolitan transit center, eventually becoming what is today known as the Moscow Metro. More on the development of the Moscow Metro after the break. read more »

Photo by Simon Huggins - http://www.flickr.com/photos/shufgy/

The Grande Arche is a celebrated monument which marks the bicentennial of the French Revolution and is a distinctive piece reminiscent of 20th century architecture. The competition for a “modernized Arche de Triomphe” was won by Johann Otto von Spreckelsen, whose concept was more or less a hollowed, symmetrical cube. Situated just outside of Paris in the business district of la Défense, the Grande Arche completes the Historical Axis – extending from the Louvre along the Champs-Elysees to the Arche de Triomphe – and guides Paris to the future.

More on the Grande Arche after the break.

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Photo by Mathias Kröning - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11800511@N06/

The idea for the Chilehaus came when Henry B. Sloman left Hamburg for Chile a poor man and returned to the city decades later with his newfound fortune. Upon his return, he decided that he wanted to give something back to his hometown, and so he commissioned architect Fritz Höger to design the Chilehaus, named for Sloman’s success in Chile. Completed in 1924, the Chilehaus quickly became a symbol of both Brick Expressionism architecture and Hamburg’s economic revival post World War I. More on the design of the Chilehaus after the break. read more »