Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Korean War

  
    Location:
    Daejeon, South Korea
  
    Status:
    Competition Proposal
  
    Date:
    2020

The site is a valley with a creek running through it. 70 years ago, the natural flow of life in the valley was disrupted. The creek, the hills, and the trees have witnessed historical events. They were here when people were killed.

The memorial needs to accomplish two distinct aims. First, it should document and communicate historical facts. It must allow people to understand what happened. Second, it must heal and reconcile, and let people move on and continue life. It needs to restore the cultural continuity and repair the relationship to the dead.

The site is a place with many identities. A place of trauma, a place of communal grieving, a place of personal grieving, a place of healing and reconciliation and a place of learning. While these different identities are closely interconnected, they each have their own processes and must be given their own spaces to reach their full potential. Finally, the inclusion of others needs to be facilitated and procedures encouraging inclusivity are established.

Distinct zones are created through basic landscape and planting strategies. The valley is transformed through clearing the land on one end, and planting a new forest on the other. The flow of time must be stopped, so the violence is never forgotten, and it must be allowed to continue.

The Documentation Zone is the space of visible trauma and public grieving. The Memorial Hall, at the heart of the Documentation Zone, provides a secluded, intensely affective experience. The Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, is a space for communal learning and community growth, connecting different zones around it. Healing Forest, space of reconciliation and personal grieving. At the end of the Healing Forest, the Memorial Space contains columbaria and a chapel.

Approach to Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Nicolas KoffMay 20, 2019