British architecture team Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects have been selected as designers of the new national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Westminster.
The result of the UK Holocaust Memorial International Design Competition was announced on Tuesday after the jury picked its favoured design from ten finalists, selected from 92 original entries.
Located next to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, the memorial will honour the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, along with the other victims of Nazi persecution, including Roma, homosexual and disabled people.
The winning entry – which also includes the landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman – was the unanimous choice of a judging panel which included Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott.
The chosen design concept features 23 tall bronze fins – with the spaces in between representing the 22 countries in which Jewish communities were destroyed during the Holocaust.
The panel praised the winning team’s proposal to create “a living place, not just a monument to something of the past” and the desire to create an immersive journey for the visitor who would enter a memorial embedded in the land.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the announcement, stating on Twitter: “Great design. Right location. Proud to have played a part to help make this happen. We must teach future generations what happened”.
The UK’s Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Pickles, praised the design, stating: “Very pleased that the team lead by Adjaye Associates chosen for UK Holocaust Memorial, fighting hatred for generations to come”.
