Monuments and Memorials
| How can webest honor our dead? Should we pay tribute with realistic sculptures of ourheroes? Or, will the monument be more meaningful and profound if we chooseabstract forms? |
Often themost powerful memorials — the monuments that stir strong emotion — aresurrounded with controversy. The memorials listed here show various waysarchitects and designers have chosen to honor heroes or respond to tragicevents.
|Holocaust MemorialIn May 2005,on the 60th anniversary of the fall of the Nazi regime and the end of World WarII, the city of Berlindedicated their Holocaust Memorial, designed to commemorate the murder of sixmillion European Jews at the hands of Hitler and his forces.|
The ideafor a Holocaust Memorial was first proposed in 1988 but the design for themonument wasn’t approved until 1999. At that time, U.S. architect Peter Eisenman’scontroversial design was chosen as a fitting tribute to the Jews that diedbefore and during World War II as part of Hitler’s plan to exterminate therace.
Eisenman’sdesign is quite unique and has drawn both praise and criticism. Occupying about205,000 squarefeet 19,000 square meters)of space near the Brandenburg Gate and just a short distance from where theruins of Hitler’s bunker is buried, theBerlin Holocaust Memorial is made up of 2,711 gray stoneslabs that bear no markings, such as names or dates.
The slabsundulate in a wave-like pattern. Each is a five-sided monolith, individuallyunique in shape and size. Some are only ankle high while others tower overvisitors. Eisenman hoped to create a feeling of groundlessness and instability;a sense of disorientation. Most will agree that he succeeded.
Visitorsmay walk through the memorial in any direction as there is no set pattern tothe stones. The architect has said that he hopes it will merely become anatural part of the city, blending in with its background; used for shortcutson the way homefrom work or a place of peace and quiet on a chaotic day.
Vietnam Veterans Statue Thecontroversy over Maya Lin's abstract design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorialled to the inclusion of this figurative work, erected two years after the Wall'scompletion. This bronze work is in a grove of trees near the west entrance tothe wall. Three servicemen, wearing the uniforms of the various military andnaval branches, represent the racial diversity of the troops.
The Martin Luther King Memorialin Seattle, Washington. RobertKelly designed the sculpture and fountain for the Martin Luther King Memorialin Seattle, Washington. It was dedicated November 16,1991.
Rising froman elliptical reflecting pool in the MartinLuther KingMemorial Park, RobertKelly's sculpture is a symbolic memorial to the slain civil rights leader.Carved from black granite, the 30-foot sculpture was inspired by Martin LutherKing's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, made the day before hewas assassinated in 1968. The monument is composed of three segmentsrepresenting the Christian Trinity and also the union of mother, father, andchild. Twelve bronze plaques around the edge of the pool relate key events fromMartin Luther King's life: his birth, his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize, hisassassination and the creation of the national holiday in his honor. Thesculpture and fountain are surrounded by a hillside with six curving terracesoffering views of RainierValley.
RobertKelly was a Seattle native and an instructor at Edmonds Community College.The concept for the memorial originated with Seattle resident Charlie James.
September11 Monuments and Memorials
Can stone,steel, or glass convey the horror of September 11, 2001? The monuments andmemorials listed below pay tribute in very different ways. Envisionedby Michael Arad and Peter Walker, "Reflecting Absence" will be builtto honor those killed at theTrade Centeron September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. As part of the memorial, architectCraig Dykers designed a museum that incorporates parts of the original towersthat were destroyed.
|Lenin'sMausoleum in Moscow |
1924 -1930: Designed by Alexei Shchusev, Lenin's Mausoleum is made of simple cubes inthe form of a step pyramid.
Interest inthe old styles was briefly reawakened during the 1800s, but with the 20thcentury came the Russian Revolution -- and a revolution in the visual arts. Theavant-garde Constructivist movement celebrated the industrial age and the newsocialist order. Stark, mechanistic buildings were constructed from massproduced components.
Designed byAlexei Shchusev, Lenin's Mausoleum has been described as a masterpiece ofarchitectural simplicity. The mausoleum was originally a wooden cube. The bodyof Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union,was displayed inside a glass casket. In 1924, Shchusev built a more permanentmausoleum made of wooden cubes assembled into a step pyramid formation. In1930, the wood was replaced with red granite (symbolizing Communism) and blacklabradorite (symbolizing mourning). The austere pyramid stands just outside theKremlin wall.
|Arcde Triomphe de l'Étoile |
Commissionedby Napoléon I to commemorate his military conquests, the Arc de Triomphe is theworld's largest triumphal arch. Architect Jean François Thérèse Chalgrin'screation is twice the size of the ancient Roman Arch of Constantine after which it is modeled. Workon the Arc stopped when Napoléon was defeated in 1814, but started up again in 1833 in the name of KingLouis-Philippe I, who dedicated it to the glory of the French armed forces.Guillaume Abel Blouet completed the Arc based on Chalgrin's design, and is thearchitect actually credited on the monument itself.
An emblemof French patriotism, the Arc de Triomphe is engraved with the names of warvictories and 558 generals (those who died at war are underlined). An UnknownSoldier buried under the arch and an eternal flame of remembrance lit since1920 commemorate victims of the world wars. On national holidays like ArmisticeDay and Bastille Day, the decorated Arc de Triomphe features at the beginningor end of a parade or other celebration.
Each of theArc's pillars is adorned with one of four large sculptural reliefs: TheDeparture of the Volunteers in 1792 (aka La Marseillaise) byFrançois Rude; Napoléon's Triumph of 1810 by Cortot; and Resistance of 1814 andPeace of 1815, both by Etex. The simple design and immense size of the Arc deTriomphe are typical of late 18th-century romantic neoclassicism.