Buildings
Thailand's Tsunami Memorial Winner Unveiled
(archrecord.construction.com - 06/13/2006)
By David
Cohn
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| IInitial renderings
of the project courtesy the architects. |
An international competition for Thailand's
Tsunami Memorial, dedicated to the victims of the devastating
December 2004 earthquake and tidal wave, has been won by an
unusual-looking project called "Mountains of Remembrance.
The plan’s five conical towers are inspired by the natural
landscape of Thailand's Phang Nga Bay, as well as traditional
Asian stupa and pagoda forms. They will be located within
the Khao-lak National Park on the southeastern coast, in a
forested area overlooking the ocean beaches that were the
hardest hit in Thailand by the tsunami. The scheme was presented
by the young Spanish architects Ana Somoza and Juana Canet
of Disc-o Architecture, Madrid, and their collaborators.
The competition was sponsored by the
Thai government and managed by the Council of Architects,
the nation's professional association. It attracted 680 entries.
A jury selected the winning scheme from among five finalists,
with second prize going to a Finnish team, Anu Puustinen and
Ville Hara of Avanto Architects.
Somoza and Canet explained that their
design seeks to "create an artificial piece of nature
integrated in the park." Organized around a "Lagoon
Square,” the towers will be built of steel tubing and
cable with ceramic skins whose characteristics will change
according to their exposure to light. The Memorial Tower,
covered in natural vegetation, will be the tallest, at 125
feet, with an open interior space for meditation. The other
towers will contain a museum, a Warning Center or climate
station, an amphitheater, and a restaurant and shop. Participating
on the winning team were Tectum Engineers and Thai Architecture
design firm, Naga Concepts.
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