Korean War Memorial
Korean War Memorial
The site is a gentle valley marked by the massacre of thousands of political prisoners at the beginning of the Korean War. The intent of the project is to reconcile with the memories of this painful past and offer a space of solace to those who lost their loved ones.
The proposal imagines the Memorial Park as a regenerated forest. This afforestation of the site is a gesture of making amends for the loss and destruction caused by events in history. Within this reforested valley, the built interventions of the sunken memorial are an interlude – a clearing – opening out a space for reflection.Parallel walls straddle the valley in the clearing and structure the experience of the memorial. The seasonal stream cuts across these walls separating the indoor and outdoor parts of the memorial.
The Indoor Memorial is proposed as an act of commemoration triggered by a heightened experience of light and weight. Designed as a series of vertical tunnels of light that are suspended in space, the attempt is to engender a solemn space that can engender introspection and homage. Keeping count is a way of remembering, and on the dark outsides of the tunnels are inscribed a score of the tens of thousands of civilian victims of the Korean War across the country. Names of victims who have been identified are inscribed on the walls of the space.
Going along the path towards the outdoor memorial space, one encounters the walls in which hold the enshrined remains of victims from excavation sites in different regions of Korea. The Outdoor Memorial is a large open square for commemorative gatherings, held between parallel walls. At one of the open ends is a quiet pool formed by holding the stream while the other open edge merges into the soaring forest to the north.
The Exhibition and education area is ensconced in the forest on all sides. Large open spaces structured by the parallel walls enable a flexibility for display and other related activities. The main corridor of the exhibition leads out to an open walkway that takes the guest along the excavation sites and connects to the movement coming from the open memorial thus closing a loop.
The idea of sustainability and ecological balance is inherent in the gentleness of the mediation on the site. By concentrating the built intervention, the intention is to leave the vast expanse of the valley for natural renewal and thereby reconciliation.
2020 – Competition