A British architectural team have been announced as the unanimous winners of a competition to design a new Holocaust memorial.
The team, from Adjaye Associates and Chalk Farm based Ron Arad Architects, impressed judges including Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Mayor London Sadiq Khan and holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott.
The judges commended the designers on their commitment to create “not just a monument to something of the past”, showing the continued importance of Holocaust education today.
The winner was chosen from 92 entries and features 23 tall bronze fins, separated by 22 spaces.
These signify the 22 countries in which Jewish communities were destroyed during the Nazi occupation of Europe.
The memorial will also include an underground education centre to raise awareness of the atrocities using the facts and personal accounts from the Holocaust.
Winning architect Sir David Adjaye, whose firm is based in the Old Marylebone Road, said: “We wanted to create a living place, not just a monument to something of the past. We are deeply honoured to have been given the opportunity to tell these stories to the nation.”
The structure will be sited in Victoria Tower Gardens and dedicated to the six milion Jews, as well as the Roma, disabled and homosexual people who lost their lives during the Holocaust.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “The question of how we will memorialise the Holocaust in the years to come, in a society which will no longer be able to rely on first-hand testimony of survivors, is one that should occupy the minds of every one of us.”
He also spoke of the relevance of the Holocaust to our turbulent world and commented that he hopes the memorial will “encourage and inspire peaceful coexistence and tolerance”.
Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “Having a memorial in the heart of our democracy, next to the Houses of Parliament, where our laws are made and scrutinised, sends a very clear message that hatred has no place in Britain.”
Holocaust survivor Ben Helfgott said: “As we, the youngest survivors, pass on the baton of remembrance we are delighted to see this wonderful design team deliver a Memorial and Learning Centre which will resonate for generations.”
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