The Memorial Design Paradox

Abstract

This paper considers how memorial architecture as a form of symbolic restoration could contribute to our understanding of some of the complexities in memorial design. Symbolic restoration, like many other symbolic practices, offers us the possibility to emphasise what we consider significant but suffers from what we here call the ‘paradox of meaningfulness’. Within memorial architecture, this paradox transforms into a peculiar problem. While a memorial designer must be wary not to create an overload by design and/or programmatically since this could corrupt the memorial’s primary concern to symbolically restore, the design must, at the same time, be interesting to be visited. Only then could the memorial’s ability to allow for commemoration be safeguarded, and thus be able to mark that which it represents as relevant over time. But, in order to do so, the memorial needs a kind of worthwhileness, brought about by its design or programme. Hence, this reveals the memorial design paradox. This reflective awareness as unfolded in the paper will support memorial designers in finding designed responses to the need for symbolic restoration. In general, this paper illustrates the importance of critical and ethical reflection within architecture.