Fire monument Vuurwerkramp, competition

Collaboration with Architect Jana Rock
2003

Proposal for Memorial
to commemorate the disaster that took place in Enschede (NL) on the 13th of may 2000 when a fireworks factory in Enschede, Netherlands caught fire. The explosions took down 400 houses, killed 22 people and wounded 800.
Instead of creating a traditional monument for contemplation where the visitor is more detached, the proposal suggested a monument for active commemoration in which the visitor is physically involved. The experience of commemoration becomes the monument itself and the act of commemorating is both, a physical and spiritual/ mental experience.
The memorial consists of a 'memorial path' and a small 'memorial shelter'.
The 'memorial path' follows the original path of the fire that destroyed the buildings. The path is constructed like a trampoline and made of a woven material, which is attached through springs to each side. The experience of walking on this surface is disorientating and unsettling, which aims to make the visitor conscious of location and tragedy of the event.
Integrated into the shelter's walls are 366 lamps, with one lamp illuminating per day.
On the anniversary of the tragedy, the 13th may of each year, all lamps on the memorial shelter are lit.
Architectural drawings by Jana Rock.