1. ArchDaily
  2. Wodiczko + Bonder

Wodiczko + Bonder: The Latest Architecture and News

Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery / Wodiczko + Bonder

Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery / Wodiczko + Bonder - Image 5 of 4
© Philippe Ruault / Julian Bonder

Located along the Loire riverfront in the center of the city of Nantes, this memorial, designed by Wodiczko + Bonder, is a metaphorical and emotional evocation of the struggle for the abolition of slavery. With the aim of being above all historic, the project still continues into the present and proposes a physical transformation and symbolic reinforcement of 350 meters of the coast of the Loire along Quai de la Fosse. This working memorial includes the adaptation of a pre-existing underground residual space, a product of the construction of the Loire embankments and port during the XVIII, XIX, and XX Centuries. It provides space and means for remembering and thinking about slavery and the slave trade; commemorating resistance and the abolitionist struggle; celebrating the historic act of abolition; and for bringing the visitor closer to the continuing struggle against present-day forms of slavery. More images and architects’ description after the break.