Tourism Authority of Thailand News Room

‘MOUNTAINS OF REMEMBRANCE’
WINNER OF THE TSUNAMI MEMORIAL DESIGN COMPETITION STAGE II

The International Jury of the Stage II Tsunami Memorial Design Competition met in Bangkok from 13-16 May 2006.

Following careful consideration of the submissions by the five finalists, members of the jury unanimously awarded the commission for the Memorial to Proposal C — Mountains of Remembrance by the Spanish-based team Ana Somoza + Juana Canet = DISC-O ARCHITECTURE, Eva Sebastián Peñín, Angel Martínez Rodríguez, Laura Somoza Jiménez, Raquel Lozano Gutiérrez Juan Antonio Díaz Moreno, David González Calle, Jose Antonio Somoza Arribas, Miguel Jaenicke Fontao, Sara Fernández López, Beatriz San Salvador Picó, Constantino Hurtado Mingo, Tectum Ingenieros and NagaConcepts (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

THAILAND'S TSUNAMI MEMORIAL — Overview

At 09.38 hours on December 26, 2004, seismic ocean waves called Tsunami triggered by a giant underwater earthquake and aftershock sent a series of massive waves and walls of water crashing onto the shores of the six resort provinces along the Andaman sea in Southern Thailand. In Thailand, the waves killed 5,395 people, half of these numbers were foreigners. In the twelve countries bordering the Indian Ocean, the death toll reached over 280,000. The tsunami disaster shocked the world.

In the aftermath of the tragedy of South and Southeast Asia, the Government of Thailand felt it was very important to establish some form of cooperative effort between Thais and foreigners to remember these losses. At the same time, this is to be a memorial to honour all those across the globe who provided assistance and relief to tsunami-affected persons immediately after the tsunami hit and in the hours, days and weeks that followed. Thus, this should not just be a memorial to the dead, and to the horror of December's natural disaster, but also a monument to the living, to the friendship and humanity that was demonstrated by all.

CREATING A MEMORIAL

The Thai government decided to construct an active Monument Memorial and Museum and selected a site in the Khao Lak-Lamru National Park in Phang-nga Province, the hardest hit area in Thailand. The personal losses here have been very hard to bear for locals as well as foreign families. The entire Thai nation mourns with them.

The site is a part of the Khao Lak — Lamru National Park in Phang-nga Province, southern Thailand. The national park runs approximately 30 kilometres in an east-west direction amidst mountainous terrain. The designated site is a part of the western-most tip of the national park where it meets and is the only contact with the Andaman Sea. The whole site is best described as consisting of three major zones — the Land, the Cliff and the Beach.

The proposed Tsunami Memorial is being created through a two-stage international design competition. Although the object of this open competition is to welcome conceptual ideas from professional architects and other artists from around the world, the Memorial will address in some form the following objectives:

An appropriate memorial to the victims of the tragedy
A place of contemplation that will encourage visitors and tourists to visit and to remember and learn about the disaster
An appropriate exhibit or museum space that will stimulate understanding of the tsunami and the natural phenomena involved
A structured space to be used as a learning centre for students and other members of the public

Competitors were encouraged to present unique but constructible designs that recognize the above goals. The goal of the two-stage competition was to gather and develop ideas and concepts with the objective of building an appropriate and interactive Memorial.

Stage I, the conceptual design aspect of the Tsunami Memorial Design Competition, was open to professional architects, designers, artists and laypersons. A jury consisting of prominent design professional from Thailand and other countries selected finalists, who were then invited to further develop their concepts in conjunction with architects licensed to practice in Thailand in Stage II of the competition. A second jury reviewed these designs and recommended the best design for submission to the Government of Thailand in May 2006.

The International Jury of the Stage II Tsunami Memorial Design Competition met in Bangkok from 13th to 16th May 2006. Following careful consideration of the submissions by the five finalists, members of the jury unanimously awarded the commission for the Memorial to Proposal C — Mountains of Remembrance by the Spanish-based team Ana Somoza + Juana Canet = DISC-O ARCHITECTURE, Eva Sebastián Peñín, Angel Martínez Rodríguez, Laura Somoza Jiménez, Raquel Lozano Gutiérrez Juan Antonio Díaz Moreno, David González Calle, Jose Antonio Somoza Arribas, Miguel Jaenicke Fontao, Sara Fernández López, Beatriz San Salvador Picó, Constantino Hurtado Mingo, Tectum Ingenieros and NagaConcepts (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

In the report of the International Jury of the Tsunami Memorial Design Competition Stage II, Mr David Elliott, Director of Mori Art Museum, in his capacity as President of the Jury writes, “The Jury was impressed by the openness, generosity and ecumenical quality of this scheme which combines references from many different cultures and religions in providing an iconic landmark and place of reflection for the families of victims and survivors of the Tsunami Disaster as well as for the general public. Its integration of innovatory building techniques with the sublime nature of the surrounding National Park and shoreline is, we believe, an expression of a universal will to recover from disaster and to develop through mutual learning and collaboration. It provides a place of memory, learning and affirmation for the future. We are concerned, however, that the present complexity of the scheme should be simplified, particularly that its inevitable environmental impact should be minimized. Ideas for sustainable energy source and services should also be reviewed and developed.

“The Jury highly commended Proposal A ‘Boats’ by the Finnish-based team Avanto Architects Ltd., Anu Puustinen and Ville Hara supported by Duangrit Bunnag Architect Limited as runner-up in the competition. We felt that it was designed with great respect for the victims, visitors and local conditions of the site. The simplicity of its construction, function and natural materials were all clearly expressed in its architecture. The strong, straightforward impression this made, together with the use of the existing stream and the related Boat Ceremony, combine with a view over the National Park to create an experience and memory that is exact and eternal. It was a concept obviously made with love. Same concern was expressed, however, about the appropriateness of the minimalist character of the proposal.”

Taking into account the Mission Statement and Competition Guidelines, the Jury had concentrated on the quality of the conceptual design in making commendations and awarding prize winners in the Stage II of the Competition. In some cases exact terms of reference had not been adhered to but this did not materially affect the concept of the proposals and the jury decided that this did not rule them out.

Realizing that this is the first International Architectural Competition to take place in Thailand, the Jury commended the Thai Government and the Council of Architects, Thailand for having taken this bold step.

The Jury also recommended that the Council of Architects, Thailand closely monitors progress on the Memorial and would be pleased to offer further assistance if required.

“We look forward to a truly collaborative development in which the Spanish winners of the Competition will work with Thai architects to realize this visionary proposal for what we all hope will be a new kind of contemporary memorial’’, the president of the international jury noted.

STAGE II JURY
Jonas Bohlin (Sweden), Architect & Interior Designer
Prof. Matthias Sauerbruch (Germany), Architect
Stefano Mirti (Italy), Architect (Stefano Boeri’s Representative)
David Stuart Elliott (UK), Curator & Art Historian
Xu Anzhi (China), Architect
Prof. Decha Boonkham (Thailand), Landscape Architect
M.R. Chanvudhi Varavarn (Thailand), Architect
Banasopit Mekvichai (Thailand), Architect & Planner
Somlak Charoenpot (Thailand), Museum Specialist

NON-VOTING RECORDER
Anusorn Paksukcharern (Thailand), Architect

ASSISTANT NON-VOTING RECORDER
Khaisri Paksukcharern (Thailand), Architect

JURY COORDINATOR
Maaddi Tungpanich (Thailand), Urban and Regional Planner

THE WINNER
PROPOSAL C: MOUNTAINS OF REMEMBRANCE

KINGDOM OF SPAIN	THAILAND
Ana Somoza Juana Canet DISC-O ARCHITECTURE Eva Sebastián Peñín, Angel Martínez Rodríguez, Laura Somoza Jiménez, Raquel Lozano Gutiérrez Juan Antonio Díaz Moreno, David González Calle, Jose Antonio Somoza Arribas, Miguel Jaenicke Fontao, Sara Fernández Lopez, Beatriz San Salvador Pico, Constantino Hurtado Mingo, Tectum Ingenieros	Naga Concepts Co., Ltd.

Stage II Tsunami Memorial Design Competition
FIVE FINALISTS
A — Boats
B — Garden of Recitation
C — Mountains of Remembrance
D — Hand in Hand
E — Lighting the Void

Report of the International Jury of the Tsunami Memorial Design Competition Stage II
http://tsunamimemorial.or.th/stageIIre.htm

For more information on the Tsunami Memorial Conceptual Design Competition, please visit www.tsunamimemorial.or.th

Contact information:
Tsunami Memorial Design Competition
Council of Architects, Thailand
E-mail: info@tsunamimemorial.or.th