Oslo, Sørbråten Hole Community, Norway
2014
A Society
Memorials for 22. July victims
To remember 22 July is, first and foremost, to honor the victims, survivors, emergency personnel, and volunteers, but it is also to honor fundamental values in our society, such as openness, democracy, diversity and tolerance. The events 22 July are still so close to our time.
Our proposal, entitled ‘A Society’, therefore, provides a physical framework for continuous social processes of remembrance, in which participation, mediation and informal acts can take place side by side with more formal memorial ceremonies. The proposal for ‘A Society’ is process-based and open to change over time.
Three memorial sites
Our approach towards the task, when broken down into its constituent parts, has been characterized by continuity, documentation and structure. At the Sørbråten, the focus has been the experience of landscape and how the landscape constantly changes over time. The temporary memorial site in the Government Quarter invites mapping, mediation and archiving. The permanent memorial site in the Government Quarter will involve manifesting a site, generating insight and permanent use.
We have sought to create three memorial sites that each will have a suitable framework for contemplation of the events of 22 July. Our intention is that they should reflect optimism towards the future and encourage human participation and spontaneous acts through personal and communal rituals. We have worked on giving the memorials a timeless expression, but our aim remains to make all three resonate with a society that is constantly changing.
THE STONE BEACONS MEMORIAL
Location: Sørbåten
Inspiration
The source of inspiration for the memorial site at Sørbråten is the simple Norwegian stone beacon (varde). These beacons contain broad historical, cultural and visual associations, both as markers in the landscape and as constructions that change over time.
Site Plan
Section Landscape
Cairns lit up at night
Path of beacons
The 69 illuminating stone beacons will be added to the most evocative sequence of the site. The beacons are of varying height and will be created from thin, horizontal sections of steel that provide shelves for more stones. The beacons can be seen as silhouettes against the sky or against the landscape in the background.
Cairns along the path
Plan Cairn site
Stone beacon rituals
The beacons encourage spontaneous participation or rituals – alone or together – and will, in constant interaction with people and stones, change their shape over time.
Section Ceremonial Site
Ceremonial Site
The Ceremonial Site
At the extreme southern point of the site there will be a large open area, free of vegetation. The area will consist of limestone surfaces, which slope east/west, layered with different breaks and displacements. The area, therefore, stands as a natural ceremonial place and has a clear orientation towards Utøya.
THE TEMPORARY MEMORIAL
Location: Arne Garborgs Plass
The temporary memorial site has been translated into an artistic gesture that binds Norway together in a process. We have defined the shape of the traditional Norwegian brick or building block (dimensions: 23 x 11 x 6,5) as the basic formal unit to archive the human processes, knowledge, colours and physical parts of Norway. The building blocks we are working with are tailor-made, and cast in tempered glass.
Throughout the collaboration process a long list of social groups, both directly and indirectly affected by the events, will provide their imprint on the casting of the glass through variety in colour, hue, transparency, nuance, saturation and sand type. Over time, we will have accumulated a map of Norway in colour, content and material.
At the Government Quarter these glass building blocks will be displayed publically one by one, month by month and will create the prototypes for the permanent memorial when the time is ready.
THE PERMANENT MEMORIAL
Location: Oslo Government Quarter
The Idea
Lindealléen is the only element that has survived the changes of the last 200 years and it has grown to become a beautiful element within the Government Quarter. Lindealléen and the front square between Akersgata and Høyblokka hold an important preservation value for the area, related to both its historical and urban qualities. We would like to manifest this in the form of an expanded preservation strategy that transforms Lindealléen from a beautiful green passageway into a colourful and unique place to reside.
Plan Permanent Memorial
A glass tapestry
A 150 square meter tapestry of glass building blocks, created through the temporary memorial site project, will be placed in Lindealléen. The passageway between Høyblokka and Akersgata will be maintained with two pathways on either side of the glass tapestry.
Section Permanent Memorial
3D printed model of glass bricks
A glass tapestry
The intention behind the permanent memorial site is to add a unique site to the existing park area, which will engage visitors, Moreover, the intention is to create a formal manifestation of the complex and diverse social fabric that makes up our society. The glass tapestry is meant as a beautiful and unique public project for the community that unites empathy and memory, while generating knowledge and insight.
Glass tapestry lit at night
Typology: Memorial, Installation
Location: Government quarter Oslo, Sørbråten Hole Community, Norway
Year: 2014
Status: Competition entry, Finalist 1/8
Client: KORO, Statsbygg
Team: Ingeborg Barlaup, Vit Gerhard, Marit Justine Haugen, Dan Zohar